Palatine Hill Review

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Palatine Hill

  • Address: Entrances at Piazza del Colosseo and Via di San Gregorio 30, Roman Forum, Rome
  • Phone: 06/39967700
  • www.pierreci.it

Fodor's Review:

Just beyond the Arch of Titus lies the Clivus Palatinus, which rises up a slight incline to the heights of the Colle Palatino (Palatine Hill), the oldest inhabited site in Rome. Despite its location overlooking the Forum's traffic and attendant noise, the Palatine was the most coveted address for ancient Rome's rich and famous. More than a few of the Twelve Caesars called the Palatine home, including Caligula, who was murdered in the still-standing and unnerving (even today) tunnel, the Cryptoporticus. The palace of Tiberius was the first to be built here; others followed, notably the gigantic extravaganza constructed for Emperor Domitian. But perhaps the most famous lodging goes back to Rome's very beginning. Once upon a time, skeptics thought Romulus was a myth. Then about a century ago, Rome's greatest archaeologist, Rodolfo Lanciani, excavated a site on the hill and uncovered the remains of an Iron Age settlement dating back to the 9th century BC, supporting the belief that Romulus, founder of Rome, lived here. The story goes that the twins Romulus and Remus were abandoned as infants but were suckled by a she wolf on the banks of the Tiber and adopted by a shepherd. Encouraged by the gods to build a city, the twins chose a site in 735 BC, fortifying it with a wall that Lanciani identified by digging on the Palatine. During the building of the city, the brothers quarreled and, in a fit of anger, Remus was slain by Romulus. In the fall of 2007, archaeologists unearthed a sacred sanctuary dedicated to Romulus and Remus set beneath the House of Augustus near the Palatine Hill. City officials plan to make the domed cavern temple open to the public once restoration is finished in late 2009.

During the Republican era the Palatino became the "Beverly Hills" of ancient Rome—an exclusive residential area for wealthy families. Hortensius, Cicero, Catiline, Crassus, and Agrippa all had homes here. Augustus was born on the hill, and as he rose in power he bought up surrounding estates and transformed them into private libraries, halls, and a temple to the god Apollo; the House of Livia, reserved for Augustus's wife, is today the best-preserved structure. To visit the Palatine's ruins in a roughly chronological order, start from the southeast area facing the Aventine.

  • Cost: EUR 12(combined ticket with the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Imperial Forums, if used within two days), audio guide EUR 4
  • Open: Daily 8:30 -1 hr before sunset
  • Metro: Colosseo
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