Palatine Hill Rome Guide

The Palatine Hill (Il Palatino — the central and highest of Rome's seven hills, at 51m altitude above sea level, bounded by the Forum Romanum to the north, the Circus Maximus to the south, and the Velabrum valley to the west) is simultaneously the most historically layered site in Rome and the least understood by the majority of its visitors: most people who visit the Palatine do so because it is included in the combined Colosseum+Forum+Palatine ticket, walk through it without understanding what they are looking at, and leave having seen the best view of the Circus Maximus and nothing else. The Palatine is in fact the site of the oldest attested human habitation of Rome (the Capanna di Romolo — the Hut of Romulus, the postholes of an Iron Age oval hut of the 9th-8th century BC, visible as a rectangle of post-holes cut into the bedrock on the southwestern slope, the specific physical evidence of the foundation-era occupation that the Roman tradition associated with Romulus), the site of the Republic-era aristocratic residences (including the House of Livia — the residence of the empress Livia, wife of Augustus, whose painted rooms are the finest surviving examples of the First Style Roman wall painting), and the site of the imperial palace complex that Domitian built in the 1st century AD and that subsequent emperors expanded until the Palatine became essentially one continuous residence covering the entire hill.

The Palatine: What to See

The Domitian Palace Complex

The Domus Flavia and Domus Augustana (the two complementary wings of the Domitian palace — the public reception wing and the private residential wing, built 81-96 AD by the architect Rabirius for the Emperor Domitian) are the primary architectural monuments of the Palatine: the reception hall (the aula regia — the great basilica-plan room where the emperor received petitions, delegations, and supplicants) with its surviving floor of pavonazzetto and giallo antico marble, the triclinium (the state dining room, which Plutarch describes as so large that the food lost heat during service), and the garden nymphaeum (the oval fountain garden between the two wings) are the specific Domitian palatine highlights. The residential wing (Domus Augustana) descends two levels below the reception wing, with the specific claustrophobic grandeur of rooms cut into the hill.

The Farnese Gardens and the View

The Horti Farnesiani (the Farnese Gardens — the 16th-century garden created by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese on the northern Palatine, over the ruins of the Republican-era Palatine houses) are the most formally beautiful section of the Palatine: the box hedge parterres, the aviaries, the casino of the Farnese collection, and the terrace with the view over the Roman Forum (the best view of the Forum axis from above — the arch of Titus, the three columns of the Temple of Castor and Pollux, the Senate house, and the Arch of Septimius Severus in sequence below the terrace). This is the specific view that makes the Palatine worth the ticket independently of everything else.

Q&A: Palatine Hill Rome

Is the Palatine included in the Colosseum ticket?

Yes — the standard combined ticket covers the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Palatine Hill in a single 24-hour access. The Palatine is the least-queued element of the combined site: most visitors concentrate their time at the Colosseum and the Forum floor, leaving the Palatine relatively uncrowded even in peak season. The recommended visit sequence: Palatine first (arrive at the Via Sacra entrance early, before the Colosseum crowds arrive), then the Forum, then the Colosseum. This reverses the standard tourist sequence and gives you the Palatine garden and Forum view in the morning light before the midday heat and crowd peak.

Internal Links

• Fori Imperiali: La Vista dal Palatino
• Roma Monumentale: Il Circuito del Palatino
• Capitolino: Il Panorama dal Lato Opposto
• Roma Imperiale: Domiziano e l'Architettura del Potere
• Palatino: Prime Domeniche e Orari
• Fotografare il Palatino: Foro e Circo Massimo
• Palatino in Inverno: Senza Folla e con la Neve