As we approach Rome along the Via Appia we reach the Palatine behind the Circus Maximus.

The Palatine hill consisted of three summits: the Palatium, to the southeast towards the Circus Maximus; the Germalus to the west towards Velabrum, and the Velia towards the Colosseum.



Rome was founded on a small area on the left bank of the Tiber, where it was easiest to cross because of the Tibertine Island. Romulus built the first city walls on the Palatine hill, the Sabines settled on the Quirinal Hill, and the area between was their meeting and market place, the Forum Boarium.

From the Republican period to the Imperial period it was considered the best residential area where the wealthiest and most noble families lived. Cicero lived here, as did Hortensius, Crassus, Catiline, Catullus and many others.

Augustus was born here in 63 BC. He continued to live in a modest house even after he became Emperor, sleeping in the same small bedroom for forty years on a low bed that had "a very ordinary coverlet", according to Suetonius. When a new house that Augustus was building burnt down in 3 AD the citizens from every social class in the empire donated money to provide for the construction of a new residence. Work on it continued until after his death in 14 AD. Tiberius added a new wing overlooking the Velabrum and called it the Domus Tiberiana .

Come see where Augustus lived. It is still called the House of Livia, and has mosaic paved corridors that led to its courtyards. The walls have imitation marble wall frescoes.



The atrium and triclinium have wall paintings in the "second style". There are three small reception rooms, the central one has a scene of Hermes coming to the recue of Zeus' beloved, Io, who is guarded by the 100-eyed Argos.





In the left hand room are frescoes of griffins, while in the right-hand room there are colorful landscapes.

Caligula created a huge structure between the Domus Tiberiana and the Forum. Claudius and Nero continued to build on the south eastern side of the hill, where later the Colosseum would be.

The Cryptoporticus, a long underground gallery with stucco reliefs on the walls, was built by Nero to connect his Golden House with the palaces of earlier emperors.

The Temple of Cybele, also known as the Temple of the Magna Mater is here. The priests of this cult castrate themselves in the belief that by sacrificing their fertility they would guarantee that of the natural world. In early spring at the annual festival of Cybele, the frenzied priests would slash themselves to offer blood to the goddess.
There are three other Temples on the Palatine, that of Victory; that of Jupiter Stator; and of Apollo, which Augustus built.
The entrance to the Domus Pubblica of the Temple of Apollo consists of an arch on which is a masterpiece of Lysias: a four-horse chariot driven by Apollo and Diana, sculpted from a single block of marble. The large peristyle has a pavement of white marble and gold columns, notice the statutes of the Danaides and their father. Augustus' library is here divided into the Greek and Latin sections separated by a great reading room. There are scrolls on civil law, and the liberal arts. Between the library and the colonnade stood the door to the inner Temple of Apollo, decorated with ivory base-reliefs depicting the slaughter of the Niobides on one side and the expulsion of the Galatians from Delphi on the other. On the pediment is the chariot of Apollo in bronze, a work by Scopas, with statues of Apollo, Diana and Latona in the chariot.

Let us proceed on our walk on this hill...

The eastern peak, the Palatium, was very steep. The western peak, the Germalus, was covered with temples and houses. Domitian's architect, Rabirius, flattened the Palatium and used the soil to fill in the area between the two peaks, burying and preserving some Republican-era houses.

The Domus Flavia, had a great entrance facing north with a portico, and at the center was a throne room with 12 niches in which there were marble statues made from black basalt, 16 columns of pavonazzetto marble and a large apse in which the Imperial throne stood. On the left was the Basilica, with yellow columns that divided it into a nave and two aisles and an apse. Here legal cases were heard before the emperor. On the right was the Larium, the private chapel. In the time of Caligula, this was dedicated to Isis. From the throne room, one passed onto a large peristyle with an octagonal fountain that could be seen from the dining hall of the palace. Through the peristyle one could reach the triclinium with its apse in which was the Imperial couch. The triclinium opened on two other sides onto two nymphae (fountain areas) that were oval in shape. There was a large portico towards the Circus Maximus and two libraries mentioned by Seutonius.

The Domus Augustana was the part of Domitian's residence where the "August" emperor lived, divided into two stories. The upper storey had a vast central peristyle with an impluvium in the middle. The lower storey had a second portico around which were the private residence rooms, many of which overlooked the valley of the Circus Maximus.
Martial called the Domus Augustana, "among the most beautiful things in the world, a colossal pile, until they touch the sky".

Septimus Severus extended Domitian's palace, with two more large wings. In order to do so he had to make a large artifical extension of the plateau southwards, since there was no space left on the hill, carried on a series of brickwork arcades in two storeys.

The Stadium of the palace had a balcony used by the emperors to view the races. The Stadium was surrounded by porticoes decorated with half columns towards the areana with two galleries above. There is a square shaped altar which depicts the twelve divinities of Olympus. The Imperial stand (pulvinar) had two floors; the emperor sat in the second floor observing the overall view.



The Ostragothic King Theodoric used this stadium for foot races
Baths of Septimus Severus were built in 203 AD. The entire southern corner of the hill had to be lengthened, using a series of massive brickwork arcades which went as far as the seating area of the Circus Maximus itself.

The Septizodium, names after the seven planets decpicted there, was constructed by Septimius Severus on the Palatine. Notice the rich marbles used in its three storeys. Between the columns are exedrae with artistic fountains and statues.

It's quite a site to see all these magnificent buildings and palaces,
hmmmm, by the way - the word palace comes from Palatium.

Shall we proceed to the Aventine?