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Hill Palatine (Monte Palatino) is the central and most significant of the 7 hills of Rome. According to a legend, confirmed by excavations of the lower part of the hill, dating back to the 8th century BC, Romulus founded the city of Rome on the Palatine Hill (754 - 753 BC). Archaeological sites have confirmed that the hill has been continuously inhabited since the 13th century BC. Due to its historical and religious value, the Palatine has been the seat of the highest aristocracy of Rome since the 6th century BC. Among the most significant ruins of the republican houses are Aula Isiaca and “Casa dei Grifi”, decorated with frescoes and painted walls.

The appearance of the Palatine Hill underwent major changes under the emperor Octavian Augustus, who was born on this hill and chose it as his residence. All subsequent Roman emperors also began to live on the Palatine. Each of them built his own palace here: on the Palatine Hill you can see the ruins of the palace of Tiberius (Domus Tiberiana), Nero (Domus Transitoria and part of Domus Aurea), Flavius ​​(Domus Flavia and Domus Augustana) and Septimius Severius (Domus Severiana). By the end of the third imperial era, the Palatine Hill was built up with a large single “reggia” (royal palace), called Palatium - after the hill. the name of the hill. Then the baths were built for the first time, turning it into a luxurious imperial palace.

In the 16th century, on the initiative of Cardinal Alessandro Franese, a large villa (Orti Farnesiani) was built on the site of Domus Tiberiana. The villa was later almost completely destroyed.

Systematic excavations began on the hill already in the 18th century and continue to this day. Some of the finds are now exhibited in the Palatine Museum (Museo Palatino).

Post the Palatine:

The address:

• Via della Salara Vecchia, 5/6
• Via di San Gregorio, 30
• Piazza di Santa Maria Nova, 53
• Piazza del Colosseo

Tickets to the Palatine:

• Valid for Colosseum + Roman Forum and Palatine (valid for 2 days).
• Please note: The Roman Forum and the Palatine are located in the same archaeological area, so if you are using a ticket or Roma Pass to enter the park, then it will not be possible to enter the second time.
• Tickets can be bought online to avoid huge queues.
• Full rate: € 12.00
• Reduced fare: € 7.50 (EU residents 18 - 25 years old)
• Tickets online: additional booking fee € 2.00. Due to security measures, you need to be 30 minutes before the selected time in order to have time to pass the control (checking bags, etc.)
• Under 18 years - free of charge
• Free admission on the 1st Sunday of every month(ticket reservation is not possible).
• Roma Archeologia Card: adults: € 23,00 preferential: € 13.00 - valid for 7 days
  Can be bought at the box office and used in the following museums:, Palatine and, Villa dei Quintili, Mausoleo di Cecilia Metella, Palazzo Massimo, Palazzo Altemps, Crypta Balbi,. With the ARCHAEOLOGIA CARD ticket, you can visit each of these museums 1 time within 7 days.
• With the Roma Pass, you can visit the Palatine and the Roman Forum for free.

Opening hours of the Palatine:

• daily:
  08.30 - 16.30 from the last Sunday in October to February 15
  08.30 - 17.00 from February 16 to March 15
  08.30 - 17.30 from March 16 to the last Sun. Martha
  08.30 - 19.15 from the last Sun. March to August 31
  08.30 - 19.00 from 1 to 30 September
  08.30 - 18.30 from October 1 to last Sun. October
• June 2: 13.30 - 19.15;
• Last entry: 1 hour before closing
• Closed: January 1, December 25
• Casa delle Vestali, Tempio di Venere e Roma and Museo del Palatino: last entry 30 minutes before closing

Ancient Villas Palatina

(Casa di Libya, 1st century BC e.) - one of the most fully preserved buildings on the Palatine. The wife of Emperor Augustus lived here. The walls of the house of Libya are decorated with frescoes depicting mythological scenes and flowering landscapes, and the courtyard is decorated with mosaics.

House of Augustus

Opposite the house of Libya is located August's house(Casa d’ Augusto, 1st century BC BC), where you can also see beautifully preserved frescoes.

Down the slope of the hill, fragments have been preserved Temple of Cybele(Tempio di Cibele, OK. 20 BC e.). Here the Phrygian goddess was worshiped under the name magna mater, Great Mother. Going down even lower, you can see the remains of floor mosaics and wall paintings in the ruins Palace of Tiberius (Domus Tiberiana, I c.).

Along the palace of Tiberius passes cryptoportico(cryptoportico, "secret passage") - a long underground gallery built by the emperor Caligula. Here the emperor was killed by the tribune of the Praetorian Guard.

To the east of the cryptoportic begins the territory flav palaceyev(Domus Fla via, 92). from the once huge building, only foundations and minor fragments have survived, among which the remains of fountains stand out: a brick oval structure and an octagon made of slabs located nearby. Domus Flavius ​​was officially part of the Augustan palace. Ambassadors were received here and state banquets were held.

Part of Domitian's palace was the Stadium of Domitian. It has not yet been determined whether this stadium was used for horse racing or as a large park.

Palatine Museum

Gray three-storey building next to the Flavian Palace - ( Museo Palatino), where antique sculptures found on the Palatine during excavations are exhibited.

• Museo Palatino – Casa di Augusto – Casa di Livia
• Admission for groups by advance booking only

Palace of the Augusts

Behind the Palatine Museum are the ruins of the Augustan Palace ( Domus Augustana, I c.), residences of emperors, passing which you can go down to the entrance via di San

The Palatine is the central of the seven Roman hills. According to legend, it was on it that the she-wolf raised Remus and Romulus. Today's Palatine looks like an island of silence in the midst of noisy Rome. This is a huge archaeological reserve.

How did the name Palatine come about?

Palatine (lat. Mons Palatinus, Palatium; Italian. Palatino) is the central of the seven Roman hills, 40 m high. According to legend, it was on it that the she-wolf raised Remus and Romulus, and here Romulus founded the city. Palatium is a poetic name, but its origin was very prosaic. Pales is the name of the goddess, the patroness of cattle. Livestock was grazed here for a long time. Later, the hill became a place of worship for the goddess Pales, and then it began to be gradually built up. Houses of aristocrats appeared, followed by imperial palaces. They were built and rebuilt over 3 centuries.

Palaces of the Palatine

The entire history of the Ancient One lies in ruins on the Palatine. The first settlements appeared here in 1000 BC.

Palace of the Augusts

The first palace was built here by Augustus at the end of the 1st century. n. who used it as a personal residence. Little remains of the marble August Palace (Domus Augustana): parts of the foundation and gloomy fragments of the outer walls.

Rome is an ancient city that has been over 2.7 thousand years old, the cradle of antiquity and European culture. No trip to Rome is complete without a visit to the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill.

A walk through the ruins of a once mighty empire will help you compare modern Rome and ancient Rome and understand why it is called the "Eternal City".

Exist single ticket for the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. This is a great opportunity to get acquainted with the monuments of Ancient Rome. You can buy such a ticket in Rome at any box office in one of these three sites, it costs 12 euros.

If you buy a ticket directly at the Colosseum, you will have to stand in a huge queue. You can get an entrance ticket much faster if you buy it at the box office of the Forum or Palatina, since it is the same for all three objects and the cost is the same everywhere. But the queues are different 🙂

Please note that the ticket is valid for 2 days. The Forum and the Palatine are the same territory, and if you go beyond the ruins, you will not go back. The Roman Colosseum is located separately, and you can go there with the same ticket on the same or the next day. We calmly and leisurely managed to visit all three Roman sights in one day. Also a ticket to the Colosseum, Palatine and Forum can be purchased in advance online on the official site. In this case, the cost will be 2 euros higher - this is an additional charge for the pre-booking service.

Still at home, studying information about Rome and preparing for a trip to Italy, I thought that the easiest and fastest way is to buy a ticket at the Palatina box office. And so it turned out. So, after a short wandering through the streets of Rome, we got to the box office Palatina. The queue is only 3 minutes:

Cash desk Palatina is located here (I marked its location in orange):

To find the ticket offices of the Palatine in Rome, it is convenient to walk from the Colosseum along Via di San Gregorio, which begins immediately after the Arch of Constantine.

The Palatine Hill in Rome is a kind of open-air museum that allows you to get acquainted with the history of Ancient Rome. Palatine (Palatino) - the central of the seven hills of Rome, it is here, according to legend, that the ancient Roman civilization originated.

According to legend, at the foot of the Palatine Hill, the waves of the Tiber River brought a basket with two babies - these were Romulus and Remus. Here, the brothers were raised by a Capitoline she-wolf, whose cave (Lupercal), according to legend, is still somewhere under the ruins of ancient Roman buildings on the Palatine Hill. Here Romulus founded the city of Rome. It is believed that the Palatine Hill was named after the patroness of shepherds - the goddess Pales.

The Palatine and the Circus Maximus in front of it during the heyday of the Roman Empire:

Since the founding of Rome, the Palatine Hill has been a place where people built houses, personifying power and money in Ancient Rome: emperors and wealthy patricians. Representatives of the Roman nobility erected luxurious palaces - Domuses, the ruins of which can still be seen on the Palatine today. The most luxurious place to build a palace in Rome was considered the southern part of the Palatine. From the palaces it was possible to watch the competitions in the Big Circus. The photo below shows a reconstruction of the southern part of the hill at that time.

Photo from wikipedia.org

Not far from the entrance on the Palatine Hill is the stadium of Domitian (Stadio di Domiziano), as well as part of the rich domus of Emperor Augustus:

Ruins of Severian's house on the Palatine:

Schematic map of the Palatine Hill. Here we noted what has been preserved and what can be seen today on the Palatine Hill:

For some reason, among the ruins on the Palatine, the Italians set up art objects.

By the way, the words familiar to all of us - "palas" (palace), "chamber" were formed from the word "Palatine". The height of the hill is 40 meters. The Palatine Hill offers a beautiful view of the Forum and the central part of Rome:

View of Rome:

Looking for a hotel in Rome?

From the Palatine Hill you can go down to the territory of the Roman Forum.

Roman Forum (Forum Romanum)- the former central market, a square in the center of Rome, a place of communication and trade for residents, where life was in full swing. Something like the Greek Agora, if someone has been to Greece. The Roman Forum is located in a lowland between the Palatine Hill on the south side, the Capitoline Hill on the western side and the Colosseum on the east of Rome.

From the Palatine Hill to the Roman Forum, you can go down completely freely, since in fact this is one museum area. Entrance to the Roman Forum is carried out on the same ticket as the Colosseum and Palatine. The Roman Forum today is one of the most visited must-see attractions in Rome. It is from here that the familiar word "Forum" in its modern meaning comes from.

Initially, this place in the central part of Ancient Rome, between 6 Roman hills, was a swampy lowland, forever flooded with numerous springs. Until about the 8th century BC. the inhabitants of Rome used this lowland as a cemetery. Then the lowland was drained with the help of a drainage system and the Romans built shopping arcades, temples and built a place for public speaking in the Forum.

Map of the Roman Forum. The exits are marked in orange:

And this is how the Forum is supposed to have looked during the heyday of the Roman Empire:

Photo courtesy hdimagelib.com
Photo from slideshare.net

And now (in the photo - the western part of the Roman Forum and Arch of Septimius Severus twenty meters high)

The Roman Forum is filled with sights. Along the entire Forum from its eastern side to its western side stretched Sacred Road (Via Sacra): religious processions passed along it on holidays, the Roman soldiers who returned with victory entered Rome along the same road.

A separate story - the temples of the Roman Forum. Temple of Romulus at Via Sacra, later converted into the Christian church of Cosmas and Damian:

After the decline of the Roman Empire, the temples and buildings in the Forum were destroyed by time and people. Many temples of the Roman Forum were literally torn apart by stones, for example, for the construction of houses. In the Middle Ages, the Romans grazed cattle on this site, and the history of the Roman Forum was completely forgotten. Only at the beginning of the last century, restorers, architects and archaeologists, through joint efforts, were finally able to restore this grandiose ancient Roman and imperial ensemble for society.

At the foot of the Palatine, during the latest excavations that were carried out at the Roman Forum, the remains of Temple of Vesta and dwellings of the vestals.

In the photo below - Temple of Antoninus and Faustina. This temple was built in 141 AD. e. by order of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius in memory of his deceased wife, Faustina. The temple of Antoninus and Faustina in the Roman Forum is decorated with reliefs and ornaments.

The most imposing part of the ancient Roman buildings, grandiose in their mixture of styles, is located in the western part of the Roman Forum, looking at the Tabularium.

In the photo below: the Arch of Septimius Severus against the backdrop of the walls of the Tabularium, behind them you can see the snow-white monument of Vittoriano. Left - steps Temple of Saturn (Tempio di Saturno).

The Temple of Saturn burned down several times in fires. This is also evidenced by the inscription on its frieze: “Senatus populusque romanus incendio consumptum restituit” (“The Senate and the people of Rome restored what was destroyed by fire”).

In this photo, on the left is the temple of Saturn, and on the right, the remains of another temple in the Roman Forum are visible - Temple of Vespasian, the length of which was once 33 meters, and now only three columns remain of it.

Near the temple of Saturn every year on December 17, the inhabitants of Ancient Rome celebrated the Saturnalia. During the celebration of Saturnalia, the difference between a patrician (lord) and a slave disappeared for one night - all the Romans feasted together.

When you are in the Roman Forum, you understand why Rome is called the eternal city. Many eras coexist in it, merging into one thing. Rome is both modern and ancient, still pre-Christian, and at the same time medieval, and here and there buildings of the 19th century look out, and all this does not interfere with each other, but organically forms the image of the city, one whole. You seem to be in many eras at the same time.

It took us about three hours to buy a ticket and visit the Palatine and the Roman Forum.

Opening hours of the Palatine and the Roman Forum:
Last Sunday of October - February 15: 08.30 - 16.30
February 16 - March 15: 08.30 - 17.00
March 16 - last Saturday of March: 08.30 - 17.30
Last Sunday of March - August 31: 08.30 - 19.15
September 1 - September 30: 08.30 - 19.00

Coliseum

Colosseum (Italian: Colosseo)- a symbol of Rome and Italy as a whole. Be prepared for the fact that there will be simply an unimaginable number of tourists - after all, the Colosseum is probably the most popular place in Rome. As we have already advised earlier, it is better to buy a ticket to the Colosseum at another box office - from the Palatine or the Roman Forum.

Getting to the Colosseum is easy: it is located in the southern part of old Rome, and is visible from everywhere.

Orange marks the entrance to the Colosseum, the exit is at the Arc de Triomphe of Constantine.

Briefly about the Colosseum in Rome. The history of the Colosseum has more than two thousand years! The Colosseum was built in the first century and at first was called the Flavian Amphitheatre. The current name of the Colosseum was in honor of the statue of the mad Roman emperor Nero, which was installed nearby and which was popularly called the "colossus" because of its gigantic size. It looked something like this:

Photo from kulturologia.ru

A little later, Emperor Vespasian ordered the construction of an amphitheater in the lowland between three Roman hills: Kailiy (Celio), Esquilino (Esquilino) and Palatine (Palatino) - as a new center for the public life of the Romans. Vespasian came from the Flavian dynasty, hence the original name of the Colosseum.

The architecture of the Colosseum is similar to any amphitheater: it was built in the form of an ellipse, the arena was surrounded by stands, while the length of the outer ellipse exceeded 520 meters. The height of the structure reached 48 meters, which made the Colosseum the largest amphitheater of that time.

Photo from the-colosseum.net

In ancient times, gladiator fights were held here, which entertained up to 80,000 spectators. The ancient walls of the Colosseum remember the battles of gladiators, battles between animals that warmed up the crowd before gladiator fights... Once, in 55 BC. er, Cicero was present at a performance in which six hundred lions and eighteen elephants were killed for the amusement of the audience!

The games opened early in the morning with a parade of gladiators. The imperial family, priests and senators occupied the first row. Slightly higher were the aristocrats and other important citizens of Rome. Even higher, the middle class sat on marble benches. The uppermost part of the stands of the Colosseum (already with wooden benches) was intended for the Roman plebs and slaves - everyone wanted bread and circuses.

The collapse of the Roman Empire and the raids of robbers gradually led the Colosseum to destruction. This was also facilitated by the strongest earthquake in Rome in the XIV century. Marauders and builders began to take away and take out beautiful expensive marble from the Colosseum: this marble was used in the construction of the Cathedral of St. John, the Lateran Basilica, the Palazzo Venezia and many other buildings in Rome. The underground floor (hypogeum) was littered with earth, and the inhabitants of Rome began to plant their gardens there, and the merchants used the premises as warehouses.

But the history of the Roman Colosseum does not end there. Finally, in the middle of the 18th century, the Colosseum got a chance to be restored. Pope Benedict XIV ordered a huge cross to be erected in the arena in memory of the Christians killed in the Colosseum. However, historians claim that the stories of the executions of Christians in the Roman Colosseum are nothing more than a myth.

Now many world-famous stars choose the Colosseum as a concert venue in Rome.

Colosseum opening hours:
Last Sunday of October - February 15: 08.30 - 15.30
February 16 - March 15: 08.30 - 16.00
March 16 - last Saturday of March: 08.30 - 16.30
Last Sunday of March - 31 August: 08.30 - 16.15
September 1 - September 30: 08.30 - 18.00
October 1 - last Saturday of October: 08.30 - 17.30

Please note that ticket sales for the Colosseum end one hour before it closes.

Palatine in Rome (Italy) - description, history, location. Exact address, phone number, website. Reviews of tourists, photos and videos.

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Love history, excavations and ruins - then welcome to Palatine! Palatine is one of the seven hills on which Rome stands, the hill from which the history of the Eternal City began. It was on the Palatine Hill, according to the well-known legend, that the she-wolf raised the brothers Romulus and Remus, and then, after a quarrel between the brothers, Remus was killed. On the Palatine, the city of Rome was founded.

By the way, modern archaeological finds, according to which the very first settlements of Rome appeared on Palatine Hill, confirm the legend.

The name Palatium is associated with the name of the goddess Pales, the guardian of cattle. Obviously, the Palatine Hill originally served as a pasture for cattle, and when the Italics had the first religious ideas and the cult of the goddess Pales arose, the Palatine became the religious center of the shepherds who performed sacrifices here. There were pagan "shrines" here - the sacred she-wolf cave with a spring and a fig tree, under which a basket with twin babies was found, the altar of Pan, the house of Romulus, etc.

Palatine is one of the seven hills on which Rome stands, the hill from which the history of the Eternal City began.

Geographically, the hill is located between the Roman Forum and the Great Circus (Circo Massimo) - a grandiose ancient hippodrome. At first, all the inhabitants of the ancient city settled only on the Palatine Hill, the other six Roman hills were settled much later.

The deep antiquity of the hill is proved by numerous archaeological finds: traces of the first settlement on the Palatine date back to about 1000 BC. e.

In the days of the republic, patricians lived on the Palatine, and the emperors did not bypass this place with their attention: Augustus had a house on the Palatine, Flavius ​​built a whole complex of magnificent buildings here - Domus Flavia. After the invasion of the barbarians, the Palatine turned into a scorched desert and was empty until the beginning of the 17th century, the ruins of majestic palaces were overgrown with grass and ivy.

The revival of the Palatine began under Pope Paul III Farnese, when the entire hill fell into the possession of the Farnese family. For such a long and eventful life, as you understand, the Palatine acquired many wonderful buildings, which are certainly worth seeing.

Whether you love history or not, when traveling around Rome, it is unacceptable not to come to its historical center. It is definitely worth visiting the Palatine Hill, not for nothing that every day a huge number of tourists arrive here from eight in the morning and ply through the territory of the complex until late in the evening.

Address: Palatine, Rome

Romulus circled the Palatine Hill with a plow, and this became the first sacred border of Ancient Rome. Here stood the house of the founding king, later emperors and patricians wished to settle nearby. From their magnificent residences only ruins remained, but in many languages ​​the very concept of "palace" (palazzo, palace, chambers ...) comes from the Palatine.

SQUARE ROMULUS ROMULUS

The leader said: "No one will cross the border of my city," and the violator - his own brother - was waiting for death ...

The Palatine hill opposite the ford near the island of Tiberinus is the cradle of the great city. To the sole of the Palatine, according to legend, nailed approx. 771 BC e. a basket with newborn Romulus and Remus thrown into the Tiber near their native Alba Longa. Somewhere here stood the hut of the shepherd Faustul, who became their foster father. Here in 753 BC. e. small Rome was born - "Roma Square", symbolically outlined personally by Romulus with a furrow, the square of the first borders of the settlement. At the time of the birth of the city, blood was shed, fratricide occurred: Romulus could not stand that his twin brother Remus, mocking the solemnity of the moment of the city's founding ceremony, jumped over the pomerium (the sacred border of the city at the foot of the hill had no walls, the fortifications were built higher, more steep slopes). Now it seems to us that murder was an excessive punishment for petty hooliganism, but then everything was perceived differently.

“First of all, Romulus fortified the Palatine Hill, where he was brought up. He offered sacrifices to all the gods according to the Alban (Albi-Longi) rite, only to Hercules - according to the Greek, as was established by Evander ”(Titus of Livy). There were three gates in the wall of the original city: the Mugon gates led to the Sacred Street (Via Sacra), the Roman gates to the New Street (Via Nova), and the third one connected with the Kaka Staircase, descending along the southern slope to the Circus Maximus. Then Rome began to grow, gradually uniting seven hills within its new boundaries, marked by the city wall of Servius Tullius. But no other hill of Rome is associated with so many legends, myths and traditions as with the Palatine.

Perhaps the name of the hill comes from the ancient Italian goddess Pale, the patroness of shepherds. And historians (Greek Pausanias, Roman Titus of Livy, etc.) raise the name to the Arcadian city of Pallantia, from where, 60 years before the Trojan War, the colonists led by Evander came to the place of the future Rome. This legend is partly confirmed by the remains of a very ancient settlement found on Palatina. If we proceed from the assumption that myths are the sacralization of history, then the ancient Greek myth about the victory of Hercules (and the Hellenes) over the ugly Kak (in the myth - the son of a volcano, in the book "On the Foundation of Rome" by Titus Livy, he is called a local shepherd, but could also be the leader of an aboriginal tribe), and the presence of the Kaka Stairs proper on the southern slope of the hill descending to the Circus Maximus. The legend about the origin of Romulus and Remus from the descendants of the Trojan War hero Aeneas, who found shelter in Latium, also seems quite plausible.

During excavations on a hill in 2007, they discovered the grotto Luperkal (lat. "Lupa" - "she-wolf"), decorated with marble, mosaics and shells, which, according to legend, is the very cave where the she-wolf brought up the boys. But, most likely, in this cave, the Romans worshiped not a she-wolf, but a Faun (the ancient Italian god of fertility, a variant of the Arcadian Pan; one of the nicknames Luperk means “protector of herds from wolves”), in honor of which on February 15 long before the founding of Rome (according to Titus Livy ) and until the ban in 456 Lupercalia was widely celebrated. Religious buildings have stood on the top since ancient times; in their place in the middle of the III century. BC e. the temple of the goddess Victoria and the temple of the Great Mother (Cybele) appeared.

The palatine was originally intended for the homes of worthy Roman citizens, the patricians. But practically nothing has been preserved from the tsarist period. It can be assumed that the residential buildings of the very first Romans on the slopes of the Palatine differed little from the typical Italian huts: a rounded shape of branches coated with clay, a thatched roof supported by a central pillar and a base of tufa. One of these huts near the Stairs of Kaka is considered to be the house of Romulus.

The most gentle and convenient for building was to the Great Circus. Here they built their magnificent here was their main residence right up the southern slope of the Palatine Hill, descending the palaces of the Roman emperors, starting from Augustus, until the transfer of the capital to Constantinople.

PALACES AND PATRIC HOUSES

Both the Italian word "palazzo", and the English "palace", and the Russian "chambers" go back to one word - Palatsiy. This was the name of the section of Palatine built up with luxurious estates.

The second legendary Roman king, Numa Pompilius (reigned from 715 to 673/672 BC), was a Sabinian. According to legend, he founded the royal residence (regia) on a tuff platform between Quirinal and Palatine, thus demonstrating the unification of the two communities. Only the republican/imperial period regia has survived to this day in the same place: on the Sacred Way on the outskirts of the Roman Forum, opposite the Temple of Vesta and the House of the Vestals. In general, the building boom in Rome began during the Etruscan dynasty, starting with the fifth Roman king, Lucius Tarquinius (Ancient) Priscus (reigned from 616 to 579 BC). Even then, in the valley between the Palatine and the Aventine, on a platform 600 m long and 100 m wide, races in chariots drawn by four horses began*. At first, the circus was a temporary structure: the audience sat on wooden benches. And when the river flowing here was taken into the pipe, they built stone stands and marble stalls before the start. During the time of the republic, the Great Circus accommodated 150,000 spectators, and by the 4th century. n. e. - up to 380,000 people.

During the republican period (from 509 BC), many famous statesmen, generals, orators and writers lived on the Palatine (Cicero, Mark Antony, Sulla, Mesalla Corvinus, Agrippa, Hortensius Gortal and many others). Since Octavian Augustus was born and raised on the Palatine Hill, he decided to revive the image of a “place for the elite”: the hill that gave home to the first Roman king, from now on became the residence of the Roman emperors and an “elite quarter” for citizens of noble birth.

The house of Augustus was built in 36 BC. e., that is, even before Octavian became emperor (27 BC - 14 AD) and Father of the Fatherland. In the emperor's private quarters, the rooms were small and modest, while the public reception rooms, on the contrary, were large and richly decorated with marble and stucco. Later, the house of Livia for his wife was added to the emperor's house. At the same time, a marble temple of Apollo appeared on the top.

The stepson of Augustus Tiberius (reigned in 14-37) ordered to expand and renovate the palace, and in its place appeared the house of Tiberius. The heir of Tiberius Caligula (ruled in 37-41) built a house in the direction of the market. In 64, a great fire broke out in Rome, which blazed for 9 days and reduced 10 of the 14 districts of the city to ashes. After the fire, Nero built the building of the Golden House on the vacated 50 hectares from the Esquilina hill to the very top of the Palatine. It was rumored that he himself organized the fire in order to get rid of the old wooden buildings and clear a place for the palace; they also said that Nero ordered the fire “for inspiration” and, at the sight of burning Rome, loudly recited his own poem “The Collapse of Troy.” It was also rumored that the gods sent the disaster as punishment for the vestal dishonored by the emperor. The people grumbled, therefore the emperor hurried to protect himself by inciting people against the Jewish community of Christians. All the accumulated rage and hatred resulted in pogroms and persecution of strangers; circus “games” were arranged, unprecedented in terms of the number of victims, where “arsonists” were set off against dogs and lions ... Later in 80 there was another fire, after which the architect Rabirius, on the orders of Domitian from the Flavian family, leveled the area between the top of the Palatine Hill and the sloping descent to the Tiber and built on a single platform a huge palace complex of Palatius, which combined the Flavian house for official receptions, a two-story residential palace of the Emperors, a stadium, etc. The new residence of the emperors at the very top of the southern slope faced the Great Circus with one facade, and with the Forum. An aqueduct was installed to supply the buildings with water. After a fire in 191, Septimius Sever again expanded the palace complex (the house of the Severes); on the foundation, supported by arches overlooking the Great Circus, thermal baths were completed. Nearby appeared the majestic scene of Septisodia. On the hill there was also a place for service buildings: the School of Heralds and Pedagogy. After all these buildings, the temple of Elagabala appeared.

CURIOUS FACTS

■ According to legend, when Agrippina the Younger was told that her son Nero (then still a child) would reign, but would kill his mother, she exclaimed: "Let him kill, if only he reigns." In March 59, Nero invited his mother to take a trip on a ship that was supposed to sink. However, Agrippina was almost the only one who managed to escape and swim to the shore, because in the past she was a sponge diver. Then Nero ordered to kill her already openly, sending soldiers. Realizing her fate, the woman asked to be stabbed in the stomach: by this she made it clear that she repented that she had given birth to such a son.

■ They say that Domitian knew from early youth when and how he would die, and by the end of his life he became terribly suspicious, so he ordered the walls in his chambers to be decorated with moonstone in order to see everything that was happening behind him by reflection.

■ The historic center of Rome, as you know, lies on seven hills. The number seven obviously has a sacred meaning. But initially it was said that the city stands on seven peaks, and these are different things. For example, among those original seven mountains are two peaks of the Palatine Hill, namely Palatium and Tsermal.

■ After the original Sibylline Books burned down in the temple of Capitoline Jupiter in a fire in 83 BC. e., a new collection of prophecies was compiled, collected from Greek materials (mainly from the sibyls from Eritrea). These new Sibylline Books were transferred by Augustus to the temple of Apollo on the Palatine. The last time they were consulted was in 363 AD. e. They were burned on the orders of Stilicho in 408 AD. e.

■ According to legend, an unknown old woman (probably it was the Sibyl Kumekaya herself) offered King Tarquinius the Proud to buy secret books with prophecies. Twice the king refused, and after each refusal she threw three books into the fire, offering to buy the rest at the original price. When in the end Tarquinius bought the last three books, the old woman disappeared. The Sibylline Books were kept in the vaults of the temple of Capitoline Jupiter. The priests, on special instructions from the Senate, looked for appropriate prophecies in them in difficult times for the state.

ATTRACTION

Preserved as ruins
■ Temple of the Great Mother (Cybele)
■ House of Livia and Augustus
■ Temple of Apollo
■ House of Tiberia
■ House of Flavia
■ Royal court
■ House of Emperors
■ Large exedra
■ Stadium of Domitian
■ North Complex
■ Big circus
■ Other: fragments of frescoes in the house of Livia, the House of griffins, the hall of Isis; mosaic floors.
■ Palatine Museum.

GENERAL INFORMATION

The original "Square Rome" of Romulus was founded on the Palatine Hill. The historic center of Rome and the possessions of the Vatican is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
■ Location: Palatine Hill occupies the most protected, central position of the seven hills of Rome, rises above the crossing over the Tiber, has a gentle slope to the Circus Maximus.
■The first settlements on the Palatine: OK. 1000 BC
■ Founding of Rome: 753 BC e. The construction of the palace complex (then it was renovated and rebuilt many times) began under Octavian Augustus.
■ Construction of the Great Circus: IV c. BC e. - IV century. n. e.

Atlas. The whole world is in your hands №245