Page 401 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Italy

ROME : THE ANCIENT CENTRE  399

VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
A History of the
Practical Information Palatine Hill
Via di San Gregorio 30.
Map 6 F1. Tel 06 39 96 77 00.
Open 8:30am–1 hour before
sunset. Closed 1 Jan, 25 Dec.
& includes entry to the Forum,
the Colosseum and the Palatine
Museum. 8 9 =
Transport
@ 75, 80, 81, 175, 673, 850.
Cryptoporticus q Colosseo. v 3.
This underground gallery,
elaborately decorated with
stuccoed walls, was built by
Emperor Nero.
Romans of the Decadence by Thomas
Couture (1815–79)
The Founding of Rome
According to legend the
twins Romulus and Remus
were brought up on the
Palatine by a wolf. Here
Romulus, having killed his
brother, is said to have
founded the village that was
Forum The Palace of destined to become Rome.
entrance Septimius Severus Traces of mud huts dating
This extension of the back to the 8th century BC
Domus Augustana have been found on the hill,
projected beyond the lending archaeological
hillside, supported on support to the legend.
giant arches.
The Republic
By the 1st century BC the
Palatine was the most
desirable address in Rome
and home to the leading
citizens of the Republic. Its
residents, including the erotic
poet Catullus and the orator
Cicero, were notoriously
0 metres 75 indulgent, and their villas
were magnificent dwellings
0 yards 75 with doors of ivory, floors of
bronze and frescoed walls.
The Empire
Augustus was born on the
Palatine in 63 BC, and lived
there in a modest house
after becoming emperor.
The hill was therefore an
obvious choice of abode
for future emperors.
Domitian’s ambitious house,
the Domus Flavia (1st century
AD), and its private quarters,
the Domus Augustana,
remained the official
Stadium residence of future emperors
Part of the Imperial palace, (who were re ferred to as
this enclosure may have been Augustus) for more than
used by the emperors as a 300 years.
private garden.

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