odern Florence does not now reveal much of the Roman city Florentia, although a number of archaeological finds dating back to that epoch, which came to light during various urban construction works, are now on display in the Museo Archeologico.
However, we should not forget that like all Roman cities, Florentia had a forum, a temple, two thermal bath complexes, a theatre, and an amphitheatre in which, in the year 250, the Christian martyr Miniato met his death. The story goes that having been beheaded, he picked his head up out of the sand and flew up to a nearby hill (now the hill of San Miniato a Monte), where he is buried. This is the site of an extraordinarily beautiful basilica dedicated to the saint.
The amphitheatre was located on the site where now there is Via Bentaccordi, Via Torta, Piazza Peruzzi, Via de'Benci, and Piazza Santa Croce.
The exact date when the Basilica of San Miniato al Monte was constructed is not known, but it is thought that building started on a Benedictine abbey around about 1015; the date 1207 marked into the paving indicates the year in which the essential parts of the work are presumed to have been completed. In 1499 the original bell tower collapsed, and in 1518 it was replaced by the one designed by Baccio d'Agnolo, which was never completed. The church and the convent belong to the Olivatans, a Benedictine congregation whose central base is at Monte Oliveto.