The palaces on the hill

On a hot July day I decided to make a much belated return trip to the Palatine hill. My first visit had been in 1997 when both the Colosseum and the Fori Imperiali were open to all and only the Palatine required a 12,000 Lire entrance fee. Times have changed and now a 12 Euro entrance fee will gain visitors access to all three sites over a 48-hour time frame.

I got there early-ish, nine fifteen, the excavations open at eight thirty, but there wasn't a queue. On entering I turned left, a direct response to seeing everyone else who entered turn right. Why follow the crowd if I could have the place to myself?

I paused by an imposing arch of the Acqua Claudia acqueduct, the prime source of water to this palatial hill and thought, "we've met before, good to see you again." The most imposing remains of the Acqua Claudia are in the park of the acqueducts. 

I ignored the steps that indicated a short-cut to the top of the hill and followed the path. I paused at the entrance to the Palace of Septimius Severus.  It's the huge arched structure that overlooks the Circus Maximus.

 I had paused because of a very modern installation, block red capitals that proclaimed "Death to the Monument." It was to be the first of many such installations of contemporary art gathered under an exhibition entitled "Para tibi, Roma,nihil" (Nothing compares to you, Rome). 

Looking it up later I learnt that areas normally closed to the public had been opened to accomodate the event. But I was baffled. And, at many future encounters with these exhibits, would continue to be. Old -fashioned TVs and mobile phones, a gate with cans on each spike, a Roman statue with a cement block in place of the head?...while I was sure the artists were trying to convey a message it wasn't getting through to me.

These installations were but a mild distraction. I'd come to see the ruins of Domitian's stadium, Octavian (Augustus) and Livia's palace, the Farnesian gardens....

 I wandered throught the arcades of the palace of Septimius into the remains of the stadium of Domitian which was not really enhanced by the LOSER exhibit. It showed varying colours depending on where one stood.

Opposite this exhibit some steep steps led towards a view point over the Circus Maximus and the rather dull modern FAO edifice in the distance. On the way down I took a photo of the Colosseum through the umbrella pines and bushes the light already glowing white in the increasing heat.

I followed a bus load of recently arrived Spanish tourists towards the house of Livia and Augustus. They took a right towards the Palatine museum so I went left and found myself overlooking an area I'd explored earlier, the lower area of the Domus Augustana.

 Augustus was the first of the great Roman emperors. He was described by the Suetonius as "unusually handsome and exceedingly graceful at all periods of his life, though he cared nothing for personal adornment." His residence on the Palatine fit well into this description, it was large but not palatial.

"... was remarkable neither for size nor elegance, having but short colonnades with columns of Alban stone, and rooms without any marble decorations or handsome pavements. For more than forty years too he used the same bedroom in winter and sumer." (Suetonius) He had planned to extend it and bought up land adjacent but in the end he built a Temple to Apollo.

His wife Livia whom he married in 38BC was described by Tacitus as "an imperious mother, she was an accomodating wife, and an excellent match for the subtleties of her husband and the insincerity of her son." She turned a blind eye to her husband's many infidelities and was an ambitious plotter implicated,according to rumour, in the murders of Augustus' grandsons, so that her son, Tiberius, could succeed Augustus. The more likely causes of their deaths were disease. Some say she murdered Augustus "...smeared some poison on figs that were still on trees from which Augustus was wont to gather the fruit with his own hands: then she ate those that had not been smeared, offering the poisoned ones to him." She was certainly not a favourite of the ancient chroniclers. Livia survived Augustus by 15 years, dying at the age of 86.

Up on the top of the hill, in an area with little shade I was getting thirsty.  I hadn't brought a bottle of water with me, not smart, and now that the sun was hitting hard and harsh I could almost feel my body being sucked dry. My shoulders were turning an interesting shade of red. I'd left the sun cream behind as well.

I headed towards the Palatine museum, partly to see the collection, partly to see if I could get some water.  It houses some of the statues, reliefs and frescoes that have been excavated on the hill but the bulk of the collection is in the Capitoline museum. However, it was nice to walk through an air-conditioned space and watch a small documentary on the origins of Rome and how the original settlements would have been built. There was no water to be had. 

I consulted my map, the sweat trickling down my back was making me uncomfortable. I located a water fountain and backtracked. A wasp tried to prevent me from drinking. It wasn't successful. 

Refreshed, I walked towards the houses of Augustus and Livia but they were closed to the public and only opened for special tours. Or, had I booked, and known about it beforehand, with a 4 euro extra fee, I could have gone in and seen the renowned frescoes.

I wandered around, up and down alleys, some paved with the large blocks of Roman stones, others just dirt tracks covered in pine needles and browning leaves, and garnered some interesting information by eaves-dropping on tour guides, when they were speaking a language I recognised.

All in all managed to learn a thing or two. For instance, in an old house built by the Farnese Cardinal, Mussolini would bring his mistress for some fun, though I imagine he still kept the light on in his office on Piazza Venezia so that passers-by would be believe he was hard at work. And maybe he was!

the dictator's trysting spot

I stopped by the most ancient area of the hill, the site where the alleged founders, those of the she-wolf suckling legend,Romulus and Remus, built the original huts and thus set the foundations for one of the "most important and most beautiful" cities in the world. I am, of course, quoting my Roman friends, many of whom have never visited the Palatine, the Fori Imperiali or the Colosseum.

The last part of my visit was the 'Orti Farnesiani' - the Farnesian gardens and summer house with its magnificent views over the Fori Imperiali. 

The gardens were created in 1550 by the Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. Today not much remains of what may well have been one of the first botanical gardens. 

View from the Gardens of Farnese

  
I'd been walking for two hours as I descended the steps from the Casina Farnese - long ago both wings would have had domes on them.

I knew it was time for me to leave when a tourist urged me to 'stop,stop' as she took a picture of a posing friend. I felt like hissing, "it's digital, you can delete." The heat was getting to me. Just as well the Palatine hill rules banned selfie sticks!