Of all the Seven Hills of Rome, the Palatine Hill played the most important part in Roman history.
Palatine Hill
According to legend, it was here that Hercules strangled Cacus, a fire-breathing giant who had been terrorising the area, here that the she-wolf that suckled Romulus and Remus had her cave, and here that Romulus founded Rome when he returned here as an adult.
Humans first settled on the Palatine Hill in the 10th century BC: 200 years before Romulus founded Rome. Throughout the Roman Republic and Roman Empire, it was continuously inhabited: first by Rome’s most eminent residents, later by the city’s succession of Caesars.
Click on the history button below to learn all about the Palatine Hill.
https://www-9bh8c.hosts.cx/en/tour-attractions/circus-maximus.html The emperor
(81 - 96 AD), whose legacy in Rome includes the circus beneath
and the importin of many
, constructed his enormous palace complex here. Named the
, it stretches across the majority of the hill looking over the
.
OPENING HOURS:
Daily 8:30am - 7:00pm
What to see on the Palatine Hill
House of Livia
Dating from the turn of the 1st century BC/AD, the House of Livia was the residence of the emperor Augustus' wife (and perhaps even the emperor himself).
Because he was the first emperor, the first sole-ruler in centuries whose rise to power had followed several bloody decades of civil war, Augustus was at pains to present himself as an ordinary citizen rather than a powerful autocrat.
This meant that his residence, along with that of his wife Livia, was modest. At least from the outside. For the inside was splendid, decorated with the kind of floral frescoes found elsewhere in Pompeii, insulated by a central heating system flowing through ceramic pipes, and tiled with stunning mosaicked and marble floors.
The original wall frescoes have since been moved from the House of Livia to be put in display in Palazzo Massimo alle Terme next to Rome's central Termini Station.
Domus Flavia
Domus means house in Latin. Yet the Domus Flavia was less of a house and more of a city within a city.
Built for the emperor Domitian throughout the 80s-90s AD, the Domus Flavia featured all the furnishings of luxury you would expect from an imperial residence at the height of the Roman Empire.
Surrounded by an enormous pillared courtyard, it comprised an enormous throne room, a triclinium (dining-room) large enough to fit a small legion, a shrine to the lares (domestic gods), and a sizeable basilica which most probably served as a law court where the emperor himself could sit in judgement.
Domus Augustana
Quite misleadingly, the Domus Augustana has nothing to do with the emperor Augustus. Instead, it was another imperial residence on the Palatine Hill begun under the emperor Domitian (81 - 96 AD).
Of all the palatial ruins on the Palatine Hill, the Domus Augustana gives you the best idea of what life was like for Roman royalty.
The Domus Augustana outlived Domitian to function as the imperial residence for many successive emperors.
Even after the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, the Domus Augustana continued to serve as residences for high-ranking officials of the Byzantine Empire.
Stadium of Domitian
You might think that being perched on the Palatine Hill above the Circus Maximus would satiate an emperor's appetite for wanting another stadium on his palace grounds. You'd be wrong. You might think that building another enormous stadium in the Campus Martius, where Piazza Navona now stands, would be happy enough with one. You'd be wrong again.
Within the grounds of his imperial palace, Domitian built an enormous track measuring some 160 meters in length and 47 meters in width. We don't know exactly what kind of sporting events took place here.
According to tradition, however, it was here in the grounds of the Stadium of Domitian that Saint Sebastian was martyred on the orders of the emperor Diocletian in 288 AD.
Palatine Museum
It may not quite have the magnificence of the Capitoline Museums, but the Palatine Museum houses an enviable array of ancient artefacts, monuments, and statues recovered from across the Palatine Hill.
How do I visit the Palatine Hill?
Visiting the Palatine Hill requires a combo ticket also covering the Colosseum and Roman Forum. You can do this independently, but to get the most out of these sites it really pays to have an expert licensed tour guide.
Walks Inside Rome offer several tours walking you through the Palatine Hill.
Our most comprehensive coverage of the Palatine is our private Ancient Rome with Colosseum tour.
The nearest metro stop is Colosseo (Line B).
The nearest bus stop is Colosseo (services: 60, 75, 84. 85, 87,l 117. 175, 186, 271, 571, 810 and 850).
Where do I enter the Palatine Hill?
Via San Gregorio, 30.
Where does the word Palatine come from?
It’s from the Palatine Hill that we derive our word palace? And not just in English. The Italian palazzo, French palais, Spanish palacio - even the German palast all derive from the Latin palatinus.
But where did palatinus come from?
There are several theories. Livy tells us it was because of the Greek settlement of Pallantium that stood atop it. Another ancient theory is that it comes from an archaic Latin word for heaven or sky.
Written by Alexander Meddings
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