The Center of Power: The Palatine and the Fora in the Center of Rome
In this visit we will walk through the monuments of the Palatine hill, the most
important of the seven legendary hills of Rome and the richest in historical
heritage in the city. The word Palatine derives from the goddess Palas and is
the origin of our word "palace". From its top we will also discover the Roman
Forum, the Imperial Fora and the landscape of the seven hills. Why forum in
plural and how are there so many of them? The fora, the civic centers of Rome,
are built successively and concentrate the main political and religious
buildings, in a sequence that begins with the very foundation of the city in 753
B.C. Thus, by the year 100 A.D., six fora had been built, two of Republican
times and four of Imperial times, and all built with same intention to create
space for the political and commercial life, for financial dealings, and for work
areas for the guilds and its craftsmen.
The Palatine lodges transcendental monuments for the history of Roman
society: first, the Lupercal, the cave of the she-wolf, which from an Etruscan
myth becomes the Roman legend of origin with the story of Romulus and Remo;
then we find the legendary house of the first king of Rome, Romulus. In the
same northwest corner of the Palatine is the house of Augustus, first emperor
(and I underline house because the first emperor does not build a palace,
although it will be a quite sizeable building). Then there is the first imperial
palace built by Tiberius, second emperor, of which only the underground halls
remain, because the level of the imperial rooms was razed by the Farnese
family to landscape a garden in the 17th century. On the south side of the hill
are the buildings of the second imperial palace built by Domitian of the Flavian
family. Its walls show the characteristic Roman red brick which have lost their
decoration in plaster stucco or marble slabs. These walls were profusely
painted in bright colors. Certainly, before the construction of these imperial
palaces, during the Republican era, the Palatine hill housed the villas of the
Roman patrician families, such as the Scipios and Hortensius, and some
plebeians’ houses like the Cato’s.
(Note: There was another palace on the hill, built between what I call the first
and second palace: Nero’s palace started here, but was completely covered by
the “second” palace, as part of the damnatio memoria process to his rule
(“damn his memory” and the destruction of his buildings). The palace
encompassed the Palatine, the valley of the Colosseum, and the Colle Oppio
where the most famous wing, the Golden House, still stands under the garden
where once stood the now dismantled Baths of Trajan.)
There are some modern constructions on the Palatine hill: the church of San
Buenaventura built on the temple of Heliogabalus, the gray building that lodges
the Palatine Museum and the artifacts excavated in the late 19th century, and
several structures of the Farnese. The Farnese family had here their gardens
and orchards (therefore its name Orti Farnesiani) and looted classic sculptures
in the hill’s grounds to adorn their palace (that today is the Embassy of
France).
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Starting our visit at the entrance of via San Gregorio (map: A; also use the
numeration put by Coarelli in his map to identify individual structures) we first
find the structures of warehouses built on the slope of the hill and the
aqueduct (which lacks the two upper arches) that came from the Alban hills or
Colli Albani at a distance of 25 km and that fed water to the palaces. Let us
remember that Rome has been a city sacked several times, by the Barbarians in
4th and 5th centuries, by the Normans in the Middle Ages, during the
Renaissance by those who built churches and palaces and used "pagan"
monuments as quarries (being the Colosseum the most evident case).
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Climbing the hill from this east side (map: B) we find the remains of the
imperial baths added to the palace of Domitian in Severan times around A.D.
200. On the top of the hill we can see the remaining walls in red brick of
Domitian’s palace (of A.D. 90, map: C), that will be the private residence of
the emperors. This palace will be the last one built in the center of Rome and
will serve to all the emperors and the first Barbarian kings of Italy. The
tradition dictates that all new emperors will create a villa in the outskirts of
the city, as is the case of Villa Adriana in Tivoli.
The first important feature in this private area is the stadium (map: C), in
which the emperors and their court enjoyed Greek style sports (wrestling,
athletics), sports that the people of Rome did not appreciate, unlike chariot
races, gladiator games or naumachias (sea battles). Let’s observe in this
stadium some characteristics of Roman architecture: first, the exedra, a
semicircular body joined to the rectangular body of the stadium (unlike an apse
found on one end of the latter). This exedra served as a balcony to observe the
games, as much as the arcades that flanked the circus (of which three arches
have been rebuilt) to support loggias (roofed galleries or balconies open with
arches on one side). We also observe the heavy plaster stucco that covered the
brick walls and that was painted with colors that imitated the marble like
ocher, green, red... We also see two types of columns: those solid ones made
in a single piece and imported from different places like Egypt, Turkey or
Tunisia, or, to construct these arcades, columns with a stone and brick core
covered with plaster stucco or white marble, that would then be painted.
The structures of this palace were reconstructed in 1930. The walls have risen
with new brick on top of the original wall to helps us imagine the shape and
size of these quarters. Entering further in the palatial area we can observe the
original marble floors and their variety in colors that enhanced these rooms.
Then in the adjacent central court is a decorative pool that used to adorn the
open courts. Under the pine tree are two platforms joined by the arched
bridge, in the middle of the pool, whose waters flowed to the largest sunken
space to the right. Romans cherished landscaping with sophisticated pools as in
Hadrian’s villa. The following wing (map: D) is the Domus Augustana (not to
confuse with the house of Augustus), where we find the most spectacular pool
of the palace, on a floor lower than the apartments. In this square patio, with
a door towards the Circus Maximus, is the pool of the Amazons (as noted by the
semicircular benches representing the shield of the woman warriors). (map: D)
Approaching the edge of the palace (map: E) we will oversee the circus, that
many emperors observed from the galleries of the palace, and the buildings
that surround the Palatine: from left to right, the Baths of Caracalla, the
Aventine hill, the Forum Boarium or the markets of Rome, the Trastevere
neighborhood, with the marble sculpture shops of Rome, the Gianicolo hill and
finally, the dome of San Peter in the Vatican (that was an important district of
Rome with its sport buildings).
The second part of the palace of Domitian is called Domus Flavia (map: F). It
consists of the ceremonial spaces of the emperor with the dining room (with a
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rich marble floor) and the audience room, both around a patio with a pool of
octagonal shape surrounded by a peristyle, or colonnade around the patio.
When leaving this palace we are at across-roads where we can appreciate the
other parts of the Palatine (map: G): from left to right, the temple of Apollo
(very celebrated in the antiquity by its rich decoration –of which the friezes
and three statues are in the museum); the house of Augustus (behind the
temple, under the black ceiling); in front of us, the house of Livia, wife of
Augustus; and the palace of Tiberius, first imperial palace, whose main floor
was leveled to create the garden that we see today. Behind the House of Livia
we see the rest of two important temples (the one of Victory and the Magna
Mater) and the legendary cabin of Romulus, first king of Rome, found under
several levels of black volcanic stone buildings of century VIII B.C., that is to
say the oldest buildings of the Palatine hill. This corner of the hill also shelters
the legendary Lupercal, the cave of the she-wolf.
In 2008 five rooms of the House of Augustus were open for visits: here we find
the finest murals paintings in-situ of the city (the museum of the Palazzo
Massimo has rich murals brought from other villas, particularly from the wife
and daughter, Julia, of Augustus). These murals stand out by their ample
spectrum of colors including famous the Pompeian red and the use of
perspective to enlarge the reduced space of the cubicles.
Before we continue let me mention two important details about the imperial
buildings. First, when Octavian becomes Augustus and emperor, the Palatine is
still inhabited by patricians. Then Augustus buys the house of one famous
lawyer Hortensius and creates and sober complex for his family (at least seen
from outside). This decision turns to him thus in neighbor of the king of Rome:
the first emperor lives next to the legendary cabin of Romulus. This fact,
added to his desire to compare himself to the God Apollo (God that restores
the order in the world, which is what Augustus did - and hence his temple) is
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his form to legitimize himself and enjoy complete support, from plebeians (by
being the adopted son of Julius Caesar) and from patricians alike (by being less
radical than his father). Augustus will govern 40 glorious years but she does not
start the Golden Age because Caligula and Nero succeed him and throw Rome
into chaos. The Golden Age of Rome begins with Trajan emperor from A.D. 100
and will last until the death of Marcus Aurelius in A.D. 185. It is a period of
radical changes in the empire: Vespasian had been the first plebian and
military emperor in the A.D. 70. Soon Trajan, born in Hispania, will be the first
provincial emperor. But it is a period of peace, good management of the
provinces and strong defense of the borders. Second point: the first palace of
Nero, the Domus Transitoria, was covered by the building of the Domus Flavia.
Only the cryptoporticus can be seen from the first imperial palace of Tiberius
(map: H). It is not a tunnel because of the skylights on the vault. It is part of
the service area of the palace. At the end of the corridor we will reach again
the main level of the rooms of the palace of Tiberius and the building extension
made by Caligula.
From this viewpoint, on the extension of the palace built by Caligula (map: I),
we will appreciate this fantastic panoramic view of Rome. In the foreground we
see Roman Forum, the earliest area and where lies the center political of the
city, in the open and circular area where the tribes met for the elections facing
the Curia Senatus or Julia, built by Tullo Hostilius, third Etruscan king of Rome
(like the other six kings with the exception of Romulus who was a Latin).
Behind the brick building of the senate are the Imperial Fora, with, on the left,
the first forum built by Julius Caesar with the temple of Venus and the building
dedicated to the silversmiths. On the right of the senate is the street of the
Argiletum that leads to the subura or suburbs of the city (which begin behind
the high black wall). The last forum of Trajan was built in the early 2nd
century, of which we can see the top of the commemorative column, the
columns of the basilica Ulpia and part of the red brick walls of the market. The
civic and political area of the imperial city is completed by the fora of
Augustus, Vespasian and Nerva. The emperors that succeed Trajan, during the
Golden Age of the empire, will extend the city towards the Campo Marzio (the
Fields of Mars), north of Piazza Venezia.
This magnificent view of Rome allows us to see four legendary hills of Rome.
We can observe, from left to right, the Capitoline, the Quirinal, the Viminal,
and the Esquiline hills. In today’s Rome, these hills are crowned, respectively,
by the City Hall of Rome and its bell tower (built on the three arches of the
tabularium or archives of Ancient Rome), by the presidential palace (old papal
palace), by the palace of the Viminal, and, finally, by the basilica of Santa
Maria Maggiore. On the right side we see the top of the Amphitheatre Flavian,
better known as Colosseum. In the valley of the Colosseum was the entrance
hall, the gardens and the pools of the palace of Nero, before Vespasian covered
them with the intention to erase from memory Nero’s corrupt government (the
main wing of the palace, the Golden House or Domus Aurea is buried behind
the Colosseum). In the same direction, in the foreground, we see the arch of
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the emperor Titus, who preserves its original friezes (in its interior) that
illustrate their triumphal parade after his victory over Jerusalem. The
victorious emperors and generals who were granted a triumph by the Senate
marched through the Via Sacra (Sacred Street), which crosses from right to left
the forum, and follow the Clivus Capitolinus up to the Capitoline hill. Here
were the most important temples of Rome: for Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, the
gods of the Capitoline Triad. The most important offerings and rituals were
practiced in the temple of Jupiter Maximus. In the Capitoline Museum you may
visit the foundations of the podium of the temple of Jupiter (and also the
temple of Veiovis or Young Jupiter).
The last changes to the landscape of old Rome were, first, the avenue of the
Fori Imperiali built by Mussolini demolishing many blocks of a medieval district.
Then comes the intrusive white marble monument named "Altar of the Land"
built in 1900 to commemorate Victor Emanuel II, first king of Italy.
Let us return to Roman times and I will mention the Cloaca Maxima, the main
sewer of Rome, essential for its hygiene, that runs underground from the hill of
the Viminal, straight ahead, through the dense neighborhood of the subura,
crosses the fora, arrives at the Forum Boarium and then flows into the river
Tiber, where its original mouth is still intact. The sewer was started at the
time of the kings, and with the drainage of the marshes in the valleys, the
construction of walls and the construction of aqueducts, they created the most
modern urban infrastructure of the Mediterranean.
The Roman Forum, at our feet and the earliest forum, is a cluster of
monuments set with little order lacking the planning seen in military camps or
new Roman cities. The central esplanade was plagued with votive altars,
inscriptions, columns, busts, full body and equestrian statues, and war booty,
etc., dedicated by emperors, victorious generals, senators, and popular
consuls. This situation contrasts with the ordered planning of the Imperial Fora,
but even then each forum is built adjacent to each other. Then note two facts:
the narrowness of Roman streets and the absence of squares or great open
spaces. In Classic Rome, when military troops are forbidden to enter the fora,
there are neither military parades nor army meetings, as is portrayed in films
dealing with the empire.
To our left, on the foot of the Capitoline hill, are three important buildings:
the temple of Saturn, one of oldest in the forum of 498 B.C., built in honor to
the traditional god of Italy, and whose hollow podium lodged the vaults to keep
the treasure of Rome; the Temple of Vespasian, built his heirs Tito and
Domitian, of which remain three columns; and the arch of Septimus Severus,
built in 203 A.D., by his sons Caracalla and Geta, celebrating Septimus’
victories on the Parthian armies in Assyria. Most of these columns are standing
since antiquity, while the decoration of the entablature, the blocks on top of
the columns, has been reconstructed (with pieces found in the excavation).
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We then see the building of the Senate, which housed until the 1920’s the
church of Saint Adriano (similar to the one on its flank). Mussolini decided to
remove all the baroque decoration of the facade, cupola and interior to reveal
its original structure that shows its aspect of the 3rd century after an important
restoration. In addition, Pope Alexander VII moved the original bronze doors
from the Senate to the cathedral of Rome, Saint John Lateran (of which we can
see the row of statues that crowns its facade next to the top of the
Colosseum). He replaced them with bad copies.
To the right of the senate is the Basilica Emilia, the classic structure of one
wide nave limited by columns that support a gabled roof, which served as
economic, legal and political debate space. Although it was built in the 179
B.C., it will be restored periodically and fires as is tradition. However, the
monuments of Rome will not be rebuilt after the sacking of Alaric of A.D. 410.
From then on the buildings will be robbed of their friezes and columns that in
the new Christian world represent the pagan past. Many of these columns will
serve to build the new Christian basilicas, which certainly change of function to
be purely religious.
To the right of the basilica are the best preserved temples of the forum: the
Temple of Antoninus Pius (emperor of the Golden Age of Rome) and the temple
of Romulus (the son of emperor Maxentius and not the first king of Rome). This
last building, unlike the senate, preserves its bronze original doors of the A.D.
280. Across the Via Sacra is the mass of stones of the temple to the God Julius,
built by Augustus on top of the altar where the body of Julius Caesar was
cremated. To its right is the trapezoidal building of the Regia or legendary
royal house, and that later housed the Maximum Pontiff, head of the Roman
religion, a position that Julius Caesar occupied great part of his life. At our
feet we see the complex of the Vestals, the virgins, who took care of the fire
of the temples, in special the one of Vesta, partly rebuilt, on the left hand.
To conclude our walk let us observe again the monuments of the senate, the
Temple of Antoninus and the Temple of Romulus. Why are they in such a good
shape, in comparison with the Temple of the God Julius? These are Roman,
pagan temples that were from 4th century transformed into churches and were
therefore never sacked. This is a true fortune, as happens with the Pantheon.
Today’s Rome is witness of the long and continuous history of the city, either in
open spaces like Palatine and the Fora, in a horizontal perspective, as in the
underground of churches and temples, in a vertical perspective.
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