Palatine Hill

One of the seven hills of Rome, at around 51 metres relatively low but with the longest settlement tradition. As early as the 10th century BC, hut foundations existed on the Palatine that myth interpreted as the Casa Romuli, the house of Romulus. Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula and Domitian built their imperial palaces here; the word Palatine became the root of palace in European languages. The archaeological stratification ranges from Iron Age hut floorplans through Republican townhouses to the enormous substructures of the Domus Augustana. Today you cross the site as part of the Forum Romanum - Palatine ticket; the south-west terrace offers a sweeping view over the Circus Maximus.