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Daddy, Where Do Palaces Come From?
The palaces of the Palatine Hill above the Roman Forum in Rome, Italy
The Palatine Hill was where Rome began as a tiny Latin village (supposedly founded by Romulus) in the 8th century BC. Later it was covered with the palaces of patrician families and the early emperors.
Today it's an overgrown, tree-shaded hilltop of gardens and fragments of ancient villas that few visitors bothered to climb even before they began charging admission. As such, it can make for a romantic, scenic escape from the crowds, a place where you can wander across the grassy floors of ancient Imperial palaces and peer down the gated passageways that were once the homes of Rome's rich and famous (see sidebar).
Palatial
The Palatine Hill—Palatium in Latin—was the poshest address in Ancient Rome, a veritable Beverly Hills where everyone from Cicero to Catullus to Marc Antony lived. Augustus Casear was born here, and Emperors from Caligula and Nero to Domitian and Septiums Severus made it their home. Naturally, they built magnificent mansions, sprawling villas filled with architectural wonders and great art. In ancient times, you didn't have to say someone lived in a posh pad; you merely had to say they lived in a palatium, and it was understood. Today, Italians pronounce the word palatium as " palazzo;" in English, we pronounce it "palace."
In 1998, the Museo Palatino up here finally reopened after 13 years, displaying an excellent collection of Roman sculpture and finds from the ongoing digs in the Palatine palazzi. In summer, they run guided tours in English Monday to Sunday at noon; call in winter to see if they're still running. If you ask the museum's custodian, he may take you to one of the nearby locked palazzi and let you in for a peek at surviving frescoes and stuccoes.
Many later palaces, built up on buttresses as they slowly expanded to extend beyond the crown of the hill, had a room that served as a sort of box seats section overlooking the Palatine's southern flank. This was so that Emperors and their guests could easily watch the chariot races and other games taking place at the Circus Maximus below, now a long grassy oval used mainly by joggers.
Via di S. Gregorio, 30 or Piazza S. Maria Nova 53 (Foro Romano)
tel. +30-06-3996-7700
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This article was last updated in January 2007. All information was accurate at the time.
Copyright © 1998–2008 by Reid Bramblett. All rights reserved.
