51 m (167
feet) above sea level
It was the
most suitable place for the creation of a settlement to control the area below,
the so called Forum Boarium, important market near the river port
There are
remains of artifacts dating back to the middle Paleolithic (100.000/35.000
BC) proving the human presence in prehistoric times although the first
settlement dates from the late Bronze Age (1.300/1.200 BC)
The first
urbanization took place in the early Iron Age (800/700 BC) on the top of Germalus,
the place where tradition has placed the house of Romulus and in accordance
with the chronological Varronian tradition locating here the foundation of Rome
sixteen generations after the Trojan war, i.e. in 754/753 BC
With urbanization
one refers to:
1) Agricultural
increase with surpluses
2) Early
secondary and tertiary activities
3) Contacts
with the contemporary Greek colonization in Ischia and Cumae
The day of
the foundation, April 21, was the same of the feast for the ancient cult of
Pales, Italic goddess of flocks and shepherds, which would give rise to the
name of the hill, Palatium
The ROMA
QUADRATA (Square Rome) mentioned by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Plutarch,
Dio, Solinus and Festo included Palatine and Germalus excluding the Velia
Tacitus
gives some indication of the primitive enclosure of the city, under which it is
possible to hypothesize the following route, along approximately 1.5 kilometers
(0.9 miles):
From S.
Anastasia, along the south side of the Palatine to St. Gregory,
then bend toward the Arch of Constantine, then to the Arch of
Titus and S. Francesca Romana then to rejoin the
track's Via San Teodoro and down the Velabro again until S. Anastasia
The ends were marked by altars:
The High
Altar of Hercules in the Forum Boarium
The Altar
of Consus in the valley of the Circus Maximus
The
Sanctuary of the Lares at the foot of the Velia
The Curiae
Veteres at the northwest corner of Palatine Hill
The hill
was always a favorite place for the rich homes of notables. Among the ones who
lived here in the late Republican period Marco Emilio Scaurus, Crassus, Cicero,
the triumvir Mark Antony and then Augustus (27 BC/14)
His choice
was followed by his successors, especially Nero (54/68), Domitian (81/96) with
his architect Rabirius, Septimius Severus (193/211) and Elagabalus (218/222)
A single
large complex was built called PALATIUM (the
Palace) from the name of the hill and not viceversa
It was the seat
of Gothic kings (as Theodoric), Byzantines exarchs, popes and emperors of the
Holy Roman Empire, until Otto III (983/1002)
Then there
was complete abandonment and reuse of churches, convents, houses, towers and
fortresses (Frangipane family)
In 1542 most of the hill was transformed by Jacopo Barozzi aka Vignola (1507/73) by order of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese in the VILLA DEGLI ORTI FANESIANI (Villa Farnese Gardens) which was a botanical garden, with new plants such as the acacia farnesiana
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