The Palatine Hill is the centermost of the
Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city. It stands
40 metres above the
Forum Romanum, looking down upon it on one side, and upon the
Circus Maximus on the other. According to
Roman mythology, the
Palatine Hill was the location of the cave, known as the Lupercal, where
Romulus and Remus were found by the she-wolf that kept them alive. According to this legend, the shepherd Faustulus found the infants, and with his wife
Acca Larentia raised the children. When they were older, the boys killed their great-uncle (who seized the throne from their grandfather), and they both decided to build a new city of their own on the banks of the
River Tiber.
Suddenly, they had a violent argument with each other and in the end
Romulus killed his twin brother
Remus. This is how "
Rome" got its name - from Romulus. Another legend to occur on the
Palatine is
Hercules' defeat of Cacus after the monster had stolen some cattle. Hercules struck Cacus with his characteristic club so hard that it formed a cleft on the southeast corner of the hill, where later a staircase bearing the name of Cacus was constructed. Rome has its origins on the Palatine. Indeed, recent excavations show that people have lived there since approximately
1000 BC. According to
Livy, after the immigration of the Sabines and the
Albans to Rome, the original
Romans lived on the Palatine. Many affluent Romans of the
Republican period (c.
509 BC-44 BC) had their residences there. During the
Empire (27 BC-476 AD) several emperors resided there; in fact, the ruins of the palaces of
Augustus (27
BC-14 AD),
Tiberius (14-37) and
Domitian (81-96) can still be seen. Augustus also built a temple to
Apollo here, beside his own palace. The Palatine Hill was also the site of the festival of the
Lupercalia. One building, believed to be the residence of
Livia (58 BC -- 29 AD), the wife of Augustus, is currently undergoing renovation. Situated near to the house of Livia is the temple of
Cybele, currently not fully excavated and not open to the public.
Behind this structure, cut into the side of the hill, is the so-called
House of Tiberius. Overlooking the Forum Romanum is the
Flavian Palace which was built largely during the reign of the
Flavian dynasty (69-96)
Vespasian,
Titus and Domitian. This palace, which was extended and modified by several emperors, extends across the Palatine Hill and looks out over the Circus Maximus. The building of the greater part of the palace visible from the
Circus was undertaken in the reign of the emperor
Septimius Severus (146-211).
Immediately adjacent to the palace of Severus is the Hippodrome of Domitian. This is a structure which has the appearance of a
Roman Circus and whose name means Circus in
Greek, but is too small to accommodate chariots. It can be better described as a Greek
Stadium, that is, a venue for foot races. However, its exact purpose is disputed. While it is certain that during the
Severan period it was used for sporting events, it was most likely originally built as a stadium-shaped garden. According to a guide from the Sopraintendenza Archeologica di
Roma, most of the statuary in the nearby Palatine museum comes from the Hippodrome. (Domitian also built a larger stadium that was actually used for foot-racing competitions; it exists today as
Piazza Navona, lo stadio di Domiziano.) The Palatine Hill, and the
Roman Forum beneath it, is now a large open-air museum and can be visited on the same ticket as the
Colosseum. The entrance is on Via di
San Gregorio, the street just beyond the
Arch of Constantine, going away from the Colosseum. According to Livy (59 BC --
AD 17) the
Palatine hill got its name from the Arcadian settlement of Pallantium. More likely, it is derived from the noun palātum "palate";
Ennius uses it once for the "heaven", and it may be connected with the
Etruscan word for sky, falad. During Augustus' reign, an area of the Palatine Hill was roped off for a sort of archaeological expedition, which found fragments of
Bronze Age pots and tools. He declared this site the "original town of Rome".
Modern archaeology has identified evidence of Bronze Age settlement in the area which predates Rome's founding. There is a museum on the Palatine in which artifacts dating from before the official foundation of the
City are displayed. The museum also contains Roman statuary. An altar to an unknown deity, once thought to be
Aius Locutius, was discovered here in 1820. In July
2006, archaeologists announced the discovery of the
Palatine House, which they believe to be the birthplace of Rome's first
Emperor, Augustus.
Head archaeologist
Clementina Panella uncovered a section of corridor and other fragments under Rome's Palatine Hill, which she described on July 20 as "a very ancient aristocratic house".
- published: 20 Mar 2011
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