View of the Palatine Hill from across the Circus MaximusA schematic map of Rome showing the seven hills and theServian Wall
ThePalatine Hill (/ˈpælətaɪn/;Classical Latin:Palatium;[1]Neo-Latin:Collis/Mons Palatinus;Italian:Palatino[palaˈtiːno]), which relative to theseven hills of Rome is the centremost, is one of the most ancient parts of the city; it has been called "the first nucleus of theRoman Empire".[2] The site is now mainly a large open-air museum whilst thePalatine Museum houses many finds from the excavations here and from other ancient Italian sites.
Imperial palaces were built there, starting withAugustus. Before imperial times the hill was mostly occupied by the houses of the rich.
The hill originally had two summits separated by a depression; the highest part was called Palatium and the other Germalus (or Cermalus). Using theForma Urbis its perimeter enclosed 63 acres (25 ha); while the Regionary Catalogues of the 4th century enclose 131 acres (53 ha).[3]
According toLivy[4] (59 BC – AD 17) the Palatine hill got its name from theArcadian settlers fromPallantium, named from its founderPallas, son of Lycaon. More likely, it is derived from the nounpalātum "palate";Ennius uses it once for the "heaven", and it may be connected with theEtruscan word for sky,falad.[5]
The Palatine Hill is also theetymological origin (via the Latin adjectivepalatinus) of "palatine", a 16th-century English adjective that originally signified something pertaining to the Caesar's palace, or someone who is invested with the king's authority. Later its use shifted to a reference to theGerman Palatinate.[7] The office of the Germancount palatine (Pfalzgraf) had its origins in thecomes palatinus, an earlier office inMerovingian andCarolingian times.[8]
According toRoman mythology, the Palatine Hill was the location of the cave, known as theLupercal, whereRomulus and Remus were found by theshe-wolf Lupa that kept them alive. This is also the hill on which the adult Romulus chose to found the city, and where he murdered his brother Remus. This ritualistic murder on the Palatine formed an important part of Roman identity and the mythological origins of thePomerium.
Another legend occurring on the Palatine isHercules' defeat ofCacus 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.[10]
Palaces on the PalatinePalatine Hill from the ColosseumMassiveretaining walls extended the area on the Palatine available for the Imperial building complex.
Rome has its origins on the Palatine. Excavations show that people have lived in the area since the 10th century BC.[11] Excavations performed on the hill in 1907 and again in 1948 unearthed a collection of huts believed to have been used for funerary purposes between the 9th and 7th century BC approximating the time period when the city of Rome was founded.[12]
Pallantium was an ancient city near theTiber river on the Italian peninsula.Roman mythology, as recounted inVirgil'sAeneid for example, states that the city was founded byEvander of Pallene and other ancient Greeks sometime previous to theTrojan War. In addition,Dionysius of Halicarnassus writes that Romans say that the city was founded by Greeks fromPallantium ofArcadia, about sixty years before the Trojan war and the leader was Evander. The myth of the city's origin was significant in ancient Roman mythology because Pallantium became one of the cities that was merged later intoancient Rome, thereby tying Rome's origins to the ancient Greek heroes. Other cities in the area were founded by variousItalic tribes.
Virgil states that Evander named the city in honor of his ancestor, Pallas, althoughPausanias as well as Dionysius of Halicarnassus say that Evander's birth city was Pallantium, and thus he named the new city after the one in Arcadia. Dionysius of Halicarnassus also mention that some writers, includingPolybius of Megalopolis, say that the town was named after Pallas, who was the son ofHeracles and Lavinia, the daughter of Evander, and when he died his grandfather raised a tomb to him on the hill and called the place Pallantium, after him.
According toLivy, after the immigration of theSabines and theAlbans to Rome, the original Romans lived on the Palatine.[13] The Palatine Hill was also the site of the ancient festival of theLupercalia.
From the start of theEmpire (27 BC)Augustus built hispalace there and the hill gradually became the exclusive domain of emperors; the ruins of the palaces of at leastAugustus (27 BC – 14 AD),Tiberius (14–37 AD) andDomitian (81–96 AD) can still be seen.
From the 16th century, the hill was owned by theFarnese family and was occupied by theFarnese Gardens, still partially preserved above the remains of the Domus Tiberiana.
At the top of the hill, between the Domus Flavia and the Domus Augustana, the Villa Mattei was built in the 16th century, then purchased around 1830 by the Scot Charles Mills who turned it into an elaborate neo-Gothic villa. At the end of the 19th century the villa was converted into a convent. This was partially demolished from 1928 to allow excavations and in the surviving part of the building the Palatine Museum has been installed.
Plan of the Palatine with modern buildings overlaid
Dominating the site is thePalace of Domitian which was rebuilt largely during the reign ofDomitian over earlier buildings ofNero. Later emperors, particularly those of theSeveran Dynasty, made significant additions to the buildings, notably theDomus Severiana.
The House ofLivia, the wife of Augustus, is conventionally attributed to her based only on the generic name on a clay pipe and circumstantial factors such as proximity to the House of Augustus.[15]
The building is located near theTemple of Magna Mater at the western end of the hill, on a lower terrace from the temple. It is notable for its frescoes.
Known as theDomus Tiberiana because the original house was built byTiberius, he spent much of his time in his palaces in Campania and Capri. It was later incorporated intoNero'sDomus Transitoria.[16] Part of its remains lie in the currentFarnese Gardens.
Already during Augustus' reign an area of the Palatine Hill was subject to a sort ofarchaeological expedition which found fragments ofBronze 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.
Intensive archaeological excavations began in the 18th century and culminated in the late 19th century, after the proclamation of Rome as the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. Discoveries continued sporadically throughout the 20th century until the present time.
The photo of the excavated cave beneath theDomus Livia on the Palatine Hill, perhaps theLupercal
In 2006,archaeologists announced the discovery of the Palatine House, believed to be the birthplace ofRome's first Emperor, Augustus.[17] A section of corridor and other fragments under the Hill were found and described as "a very ancient aristocratic house."[citation needed] The two-story house appears to have been built around anatrium, with frescoed walls and mosaic flooring, and is situated on the slope of the Palatine that overlooks theColosseum and theArch of Constantine. The Republican-era houses on the Palatine were overbuilt by later palaces after theGreat Fire of Rome (AD 64), but apparently this one was not and perhaps was preserved for an important reason. On the ground floor, three shops opened onto theVia Sacra. The location of thedomus is significant because of its potential proximity to theCuriae Veteres, the earliest shrine of thecuries of Rome.[18]
In 2007 the legendaryLupercal cave was claimed to have been found beneath the remains of theDomus Livia (House ofLivia) on the Palatine. Archaeologists came across the 16-metre-deep cavity while restoring the decaying palace, with a richly decorated vault encrusted with mosaics and seashells.[19] The Lupercal was probably converted to a sanctuary by Romans in later centuries. Many others have denied its identification with the Lupercal on topographic and stylistic grounds, and believe that the grotto is actually anymphaeum or undergroundtriclinium fromNeronian times.[20][21][22]
^The Atlas of Ancient Rome, Biography and Portraits of the City, Ed. Andrea Carandini, Paolo Carafa, trans. Andrew Campbell Halavais, Princeton University Pressm 2012, pp. 216=17,ISBN978-0-691-16347-5
^"È uno splendido ninfeo, ma il Lupercale non era lì"la Repubblica November 23, 2007[1]Archived 2021-01-26 at theWayback Machine
^Schulz, Matthia "Is Italy's Spectacular Find Authentic?"Spiegel Online November 29, 2007spiegel.deArchived 2012-02-02 at theWayback Machine
Bibliography
Tomei, Maria Antonietta. "The Palatine." Trans. Luisa Guarneri Hynd. Milano: Electa (Ministero per i Beni e le Actività Culturali Sopraintendenza Archeologica di Roma), 1998.
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