It has probably been centuries since Romans have been so feverish about happenings at the Colosseum, and it is not because of the recent release of the Ridley Scott Gladiator sequel.

A plan by the Colosseum and Airbnb to give a select few people the chance to unleash their “inner gladiator” at the most visited site in Italy has caused an uproar among many Romans who say it demeans a treasured cultural icon.

Over two nights in May, a total of up to 32 people will learn the art of gladiator fighting at the ancient arena, taught by Roman history buffs who specialise in historical re-enactments.

The project is a partnership between the Colosseum Archaeological Park and Airbnb, the accommodations booking platform, which donated $1.5 million to spruce up a permanent exhibit inside the arena. The aim, Airbnb said, “was to support the Colosseum’s ongoing conservation work to find new ways to inspire and educate visitors on the historical significance of this bygone era”.

But some Romans and cultural leaders have given the initiative an emphatic thumbs down. (Footnote: While the emperor made such a gesture to condemn a fighter in the original Gladiator movie, scholars are uncertain about the direction thumbs actually pointed in ancient arenas for such purposes.)

“We’re against transforming the Colosseum into a theme park,” said Massimiliano Smeriglio, a member of Rome’s City Council responsible for culture. He said he would soon meet Airbnb officials to try to get the company to change its mind.

“We’re all in favour if a company decides to sponsor a monument or a restoration,” he said, “but it shouldn’t be necessary to get anything in exchange.”

Federico Mollicone, a lawmaker with the Brothers of Italy party of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, dismissed the criticism as the views of a “radical chic” element in Rome that treated the arena “as something sacred”. The Colosseum, he pointed out, had been built for rough-and-tumble entertainment.

He added that gladiator games were already tourist draws in other historical arenas, like one in Nimes, France. “There’s nothing wrong with it,” said Mollicone, whose Centre-Right government this year passed a law that supports the promotion of historical re-enactments.

Critics also raised questions about Airbnb’s involvement at a time when many European cities are struggling to balance the needs of locals with a booming post-pandemic tourist industry facilitated by accommodation platforms.

This summer, the backlash against mass tourism saw protests in many cities, including Barcelona and Athens. In Rome, lockboxes have been tampered with, but they may soon be things of the past. Last month, the interior ministry issued a regulation that requires that guests be physically identified when they check in, and lockboxes fail to comply.

The effect of short-term rentals in Rome has been “enormous”, said Fabrizio Nizi, a spokesman for Spin Time Labs, a renters’ association that lobbies for affordable housing.

He said studies of the Rome rental market based on government statistics showed a sharp increase in apartments being moved to short-term rentals from long-term ones in recent years.

He said the expected arrival in 2025 of millions of pilgrims for a Jubilee, which is traditionally celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church every 25 years, would only make things worse.

“There should have been more sensitivity” on the part of the Colosseum, a national institution, “because Airbnb opened the way to the destruction of our communities”, said Viviana Piccirilli Di Capua, the coordinator of an association of residents in downtown Rome, where she alleged numerous residents said that landlords were not renewing leases.

While Romans are frequently incensed by many issues in their city — everything from uncollected garbage to potholes — they can be particularly sensitive about the Colosseum.

A kerfuffle erupted last year after Elon Musk challenged Mark Zuckerberg on social media to “a cage match”, and it was rumoured thatthe Colosseum could be the venue.

The iconic monument “always stirs up huge emotions and debates”, lamented an Airbnb spokesperson.

“Colosseum kitsch emergency,” Massimiliano Tonelli, the editorial director of an art magazine, wrote in a scornful editorial about the gladiator plan.

He said in an interview that Ars Dimicandi and Gruppo Storico Romano, the two historical re-enactment associations involved in the project, were unqualified, an assessment that is dismissed by both groups and Colosseum officials.

In June, the Colosseum signed an accord with the two groups to develop projects to promote a better understanding of gladiator fighting. The collaboration with Airbnb, officials said in a statement, aimed “to enhance the historical and cultural heritage” of the amphitheatre “based on rigorous historical research work”.

Gruppo Storico Romano capitalised on the original Gladiator film in 2000 to open its first gladiator school off the ancient Appian Way, and since then its popularity has grown, thanks also to the support the association received from Mollicone, the lawmaker.

“He really espoused historical re-enactment as a serious, philological, scientific activity that can also be a driver for a form of experiential tourism,” said Andrea Buccolini, a spokesman for the group.

Dario Battaglia, the founder of Ars Dimicandi, said Gladiator and its sequel were part of the reason initiatives like those promoted at the Colosseum were so necessary — movies probably get much of the history wrong. For example, he said, gladiators were not always forced to fight to the death and many were volunteers, including enslaved people hoping to improve their stations in life.

“The Colosseum changed course and decided to commission the world’s leading experts in this field to provide clarity,” because the profession of gladiators “is completely misunderstood”, Battaglia said. “Not much is known.”

So the Airbnb event will be an “immersive experience” less about entertainment and more about history to show “for the first time what really happened”, he said.

New York Times News Service