email
The Silk Route - World Travel: Rome, Italy

Italy: Foundation of Imperial Rome
2006, 2019

Beginnings & Republic House of Augustus House of Livia Legacy of Augustus
5th c BC pottery fragment,  Rome, Italy

Rome is a fascinating city. It begins with an Iron Age hut settlement and a republic and the Emperor Augustus presiding over the beginning of the Imperial Age.
Related pages:
Italy: Imperial Rome - Pyramid of Cestius, Forums, Colosseum, Baths of Caracalla
Italy: Imperial Rome - Palatine Hill & Domus Aurea
Italy: Post-Imperial Rome

Beginnings & Republic

excavations, palatine hill
The site of the Iron Age hut village.
Post holes discovered here are from the foundations of huts, said to be where the legendary founder of Rome, Romulus, lived.

 

The earliest traces of civilisation in Rome are located on the Palatine Hill and are almost three thousand years old, from the Iron Age.

In the south-western area at the summit of the Palatine, overlooking the Tiber, a small hut village has been excavated. This is considered to be the origins of the city of the Rome and the place where its reputed founder, Romulus, is traditionally thought to have lived in the 8th century BC. The remains of foundation holes and trenches of two huts have been found which had beaten earth walls on a framework of wooden poles and with roofs of interwoven branches.

water cistern, palatine hill
Clay wellhead, late 6th century BC.
Excavated on the Palatine Hill near the Victory Temple.
Palatine Museum
water cistern, palatine hill
One of two archaic circular water storage cisterns dating from the 6th century BC. They are located in the oldest settled area of the Palatine and were cut into the tufa and lined with blocks of the same material with a coating of plaster. One was roofed and the other open and accessed by a staircase. A great deal of votive material was thrown into the cisterns and numerous pottery fragments point to the existence of a goddess cult here long before the Vittoria and Magna Mater temples were built here in the third century BC.

The city began to develop under the Etruscans whose kings raised the first buildings of the Forum and established the beginnings of a water and sewerage system. Only three Etruscan kings ruled over this rudimentary city, however, before the last tyrannical ruler, Tarquinus Superbus (Tarquin the Proud), was overthrown in 509 BC and the Roman Republic established. Patrician families were now represented by the Senate and two consuls were elected to lead Rome; the people elected two tribunes to represent their interests.

clay bowl fragment, palatine hill
Fragment of figured lustral clay basin, 480-470 BC.
From the sanctuary on the north eastern slopes of the Palatine Hill. Lustral relates to purification rituals.
Palatine Museum.

The Republic embarked on a programme of expansion, subduing the various tribes which ruled areas around the city and enjoying great success in campaigns abroad, though in 390 BC the Gauls took the entire city apart from the Capitoline Hill - it was during a nighttime assault when geese are supposed to have saved Rome by cackling and waking the soldiers.

The Romans began to build roads - the Via Appia dates back to 312 BC - but as it became rich the ruling classes manoeuvred to obtain wealth and influence and internal disputes followed. In 87BC a civil war was sparked when one of the two consuls, Gaius Marius, seized control of the city while the other, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, was in Asia Minor subduing an uprising. Sulla eventually emerged victorious and the sole leader of Rome in 82 BC but proved to be a vengeful victor, greatly reducing the powers of Rome's officials. The signs were not good for the Republic. Julius Caesar, Gaius Marius's nephew, a great military commander, eventually also fought a civil war in Rome, defeating his rival Pompey and being proclaimed "dictator of Rome".

Largo della Torre Argentina
Largo di Torre Argentina 2006.
Temple A at the north end of the site. Behind, to the west, was the Theatre of Pompey.

Largo della Torre Argentina
Remains of frescoes in the apse of the ruined medieval church built on Temple A.

This so enraged supporters of the Republic that a number of them murdered Caesar on March 15th 44BC, on the steps of the Theatre of Pompey. The huge theatre stood next to present-day Largo di Torre Argentina where some of the oldest excavations in the city can be found. Four temples were built here between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC. Though they aren't currently open to the public plans are being made to develop the site for visitors. We passed several times in 2006 (and 2019) and there was active archaeological work going on.

Largo della Torre Argentina
Largo di Torre Argentina
Looking south west, the columns are of the circular Temple (tholos) B.
Largo della Torre Argentina
There is a cat sanctuary at the southern end of Largo di Torre Argentina with many contented cats!
Pantheon Inside the Pantheon 2006.
The Pantheon
The Pantheon on Piazza della Rotunda, few tourists in 2006.

The murder of Caesar threw the city into chaos from which a triumvirate of rulers emerged: Caesar's deputy Mark Anthony, Caesar's adopted son Octavian, and Lepidus. Mark Anthony married Octavian's sister, Octavia, but, fascinated by Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt, he joined forces with her only to be defeated by Octavian and his general Marcus Agrippa in the Battle of Actium in 31BC, after which both he and Cleopatra committed suicide.

The Pantheon
Pantheon 2006.

It was Agrippa who first built the Pantheon in 27AD as part of his building works in the historic centre of ancient Rome, the area called Campus Martius. It is a temple which stands on the lovely Piazza della Rotunda, the most complete Roman building to remain. The inscription on the building reads: M.AGRIPPA.L.F.COS.TERTIUM.FECIT - M(arcus) Agrippa L(ucius) F(ilius) Tertium, fecit - Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, on his third consulship, built this, added by Hadrian during rebuilding, the third temple on the site after the first two burned down.

Twice we attempted to revisit the Pantheon in 2019, the first time the piazza was solid with people and we could see masses within the building so turned away - admittedly it was Easter weekend. The second time, after Easter weekend, we joined the queue to get in (there was no queue in 2006) but it was so crowded inside, a solid mass of people, that we turned round at the door and went back out.

 

House of Augustus

terracotta plaques, palatine musuem
Terracotta plaques.
Augustan period (27 BC - 14 AD).
Palatine Museum
Found in the vicinity of the Temple of Apollo on the Palatine Hill.

Octavian emerged as the first Roman Emperor, known as Augustus. He built Rome into a fitting capital of a great empire and ruled for forty years. He was succeeded by Tiberius, the eldest son of his second wife Livia (of whom more later!). The houses of both Augustus and Livia are said to be located on the Palatine Hill - the word "palace" is derived from "palatine" - and in fact it had been a favoured place for the elite to build their homes for some time.1

terracotta plaques, palatine musuem
Fresco fragment: Apollo with a lyre.
Augustan period (27 BC - 14 AD).
Palatine Museum

 

terracotta plaques, palatine musuem
Terracotta plaque: Perseus beheads the Gorgon.
Augustan period (27 BC - 14 AD).
Palatine Museum
Found in the vicinity of the Temple of Apollo on the Palatine Hill. Perseus wears the winged sandals given to him by Hermes; Athena, on the right, gave him a highly polished shield with which he was able to view the Gorgon's reflection and thus avoid death.
terracotta plaques, palatine musuem
Hathor capital.
Augustan period (27 BC - 14 AD).
Palatine Museum
Hathor was the Egyptian goddess depicted with the head of a cow. Here there are also cobras, a symbol of sovereignty.

Augustus became the new owner of the house of the orator Hortensius on the Palatine. It is not clear to me if this is the set of rooms identified as the "House of Augustus". It lies to the east of the Iron Age Village, as close as it is possible to get to the origins of the city. It lay on the west side of the huge Temple of Apollo which Augustus had built to honour his patron deity in gratitude for his military victories; very little remains of this temple. In the museum are a good number of terracottta plaques from the Augustan period which were apparently the most numerous type of artwork found in the area around the Temple of Apollo.

house of augustus, palatine hill
Room of the Pine Festoons, "House of Augustus", Palatine Hill.

This was a prestige location but if he did live here Augustus kept his private rooms relatively simple with plain ceilings and black and white mosaic floors.

On the lower floor, rooms of the "Private Sector" are divided by a short corridor - those on the left continued to be used throughout the Imperial era whereas those on the right were abandoned, buried after the reign of Augustus and thus are better preserved. The first is the so-called "Room of the Pine Festoons" where the frescoes are of pine garlands slung between columns with a screen and the tops of columns behind that.

 

house of augustus, palatine hill
This curious pointed stone in the Room of the Masks is called a "betyl"and symbolizes Apollo.
house of augustus, palatine hill
house of augustus, palatine hill
Room of the Masks, "House of Augustus", Palatine Hill.

Nearby is the "Room of the Masks" which is in an even better state and has a series of theatrical masks in perspective architectural elements. There is a clear Hellenistic influence in this type of decoration which was common, for the Imperial Romans generally had a high regard for Greek culture.

house of augustus, palatine hill
house of augustus, palatine hill
marble relief of ship's prow, palatine musuem
Marble relief with ship's prow.
Palatine Museum
Augustan period (27 BC - 14AD).
Eastern slopes of the Palatine Hill.
house of augustus, palatine hill
One of the rooms on the north side of the court in the "Public Sector" and, below, a projection showing how it once would have looked.
house of augustus, palatine hill

This apartment seems to me unlikely to have been the private rooms of an emperor, the rooms are so small and the decoration is not of the finest. It pales in comparison to the villas we visited in and around Pompeii (Villa dei Misteri, Three Roman Villas) which are of the same era. Maybe Augustus had very simple tastes. Amanda Claridge suggests the rooms may actually have been used by the priests who tended the Temple of the Great Mother.1 But would they have had such a theatrical decoration? Perhaps Augustus did live here but kept his residence low key - he was the first emperor after the Republic had been overthrown and may not have wanted to appear too ostentatious.

house of augustus, palatine hill
Projection in one of the rooms in the "Public Sector" of the "House of Augustus"

The so-called "Public Sector" of the house is slightly grander. Restored rooms stretch east then south of the "Private Sector" around a court.

The decoration in these rooms is of much higher quality and some of the perspective architectural painting is really very well done. A lot of side walls are relatively blank, though, and it seems the decoration in some rooms, and some room alterations, were unfinished.1

house of augustus, palatine hill
Projection in the Ramp Room of the "Public Sector".

On the north side of the court is a line of five rooms with a high-ceilinged room which may have been a triclinium (dining room) in the centre.

Symmetrically either side of it are four rooms, of which two may have been libraries. Additionally there are service rooms behind.

house of augustus, palatine hill
Projection in the Ramp Room of the "Public Sector".
house of augustus, palatine hill
Ceiling detail in the Ramp Room.

 

 

house of augustus, palatine hill
Ceiling in the Ramp Room of the "Public Sector" painted to look like a coffered ceiling.

 

 

On the east side of the court the rooms were buried in the foundations of the Temple of Apollo.1 Here the rooms are on two storeys, once connected by a ramp.

The Ramp Room with a high barrel-vaulted ceiling; at one end the impressive ceiling decoration is well-preserved and mimics a coffered ceiling.

 

house of augustus, palatine hill
Oecus in the "Public Sector".

 

house of augustus, palatine hill
Decoration detail in the oecus.
house of augustus, palatine hill
Oecus in the "Public Sector".

 

One of the rooms here was a large hall or oecus which once had a false arched canopy ceiling raised on four columns, the unclad bases of which remain in situ. This room is connected to a cubiculum.

 

house of augustus, palatine hill
Cubiculum in "Public Sector".
house of augustus, palatine hill
Painted ceiling in the "study of Augustus".
house of augustus, palatine hill
Said to be the study of Augustus.

On the upper floor we were shown a room thought to be the study of Augustus, and there is some very fine fresco work in this room and a fine decorated ceiling.

house of augustus, palatine hill
Hall of Isis

The "study" is behind glass so difficult to get photographs without reflections!

A further decorated room was found beneath the Basilica of the Domus Flavia, part of Domitian's Palace - see below). The wall paintings date from around 30BC with Egyptian allusions, particularly to the goddess Isis, hence the room being dubbed the Hall of Isis. The wall and vault decoration have been removed to a room in Domitian's palace for easier viewing.

 

House of Livia

house of livia, palatine hill
Entrance to the "House of Livia" - a slope leads down from ground level.

To the north-east of the "House of Augustus" is the so-called "House of Livia", his second wife. These rooms were almost certainly once connected to those of the "House of Augustus" and it is debatable whether Livia ever lived here. The basic structure of the house dates from 75-50 BC. Pieces of lead piping were found beneath the house, stamped with various names, presumably of the house's inhabitants. One of these is IVLIAEA, which could be any one of a number of aristocratic women but has been taken to be that of Julia Augusta, the name bequeathed to Livia when Augustus died in 14 BC.

house of livia, palatine hill

Some say that Livia was a ruthless mother who did all she could to ensure her son Tiberius would be the next emperor, even going so far as to smear poison on figs to kill Augustus.

house of livia, palatine hill
Three rooms of the dining area, "House of Livia".

The visit begins via the sloping corridor leading down into a large atrium with a triclinium (dining room), though the original main entrance of the house faced the Temple of Apollo. Underground rooms would have been cool in the heat of a Roman summer, but of course had no view. Decoration of the walls would have been doubly important in such rooms used for entertainment.

house of livia, palatine hill
Mosaic floor.

This leads into a large, high-ceilinged atrium with three rooms facing the entrance and one to the right.

Again most of the floors seem to have been of black and white mosaic but of several different designs.

 

house of livia, palatine hill
house of livia, palatine hill
house of livia, palatine hill
house of livia, palatine hill
Detail, left hand room, winged female figures.
house of livia, palatine hill
Frescoes in the right hand room.
house of livia, palatine hill
Tablinum
house of livia, palatine hill
Triclinium

The frescoes in this house are some of the best examples in Rome of the Second Pompeiian Style typified by architectural elements such as columns framing a view of landscapes or artwork.

house of livia, palatine hill

The right hand room is decorated with lavish garlands - much more extravagant than in the "House of Augustus", great swags of foliage and fruit. The frieze above on a yellow ground had scenes of Egyptian life and is very rare.

house of livia, palatine hill
The right hand room with doorway into the central room (tablinum).

The central room of the three is called a tablinum as this is the traditional location of such a room, opposite the entrance to an atrium. It has panels of mythological scenes and is also known as the Room of Polyphemus from the fresco on the back wall.

house of livia, palatine hill
Detail of frescoes in the tablinum.
house of livia, palatine hill
Triclinium

The triclinium has frescoes of idyllic rural landscapes, one with a similar torpedo shape as in the Room of the Masks in the "House of Augustus". Above these rooms are bedrooms and service rooms.

detail of fresco from a courtyard in livia's house
Detail of fresco from a balustraded garden courtyard in Livia's villa north of Rome.

Livia also had a villa just north of Rome and some of the garden frescoes from it can be seen in the museum Palazzo Massimo -  we had a Rome archaeological pass in 2006 and it was included otherwise we probably wouldn't have gone but I'm glad we did, if for no other reason than these frescoes from a garden courtyard.

She is a fascinating character. Robert Graves' books "I Claudius" and "Claudius the God" bring Imperial Rome alive and, if he is to be believed, Livia was a great manipulator of events, poisoning many in the line of succession to Augustus, including Augustus himself, to ensure that her son Tiberius became emperor. I can highly recommend, too, the BBC TV series "I Claudius" - it has some great actors: Derek Jacobi, Brian Blessed, John Hurt, George Baker and a magnificent Siân Phillips as Livia.

 

Legacy of Augustus

Theatre of Marcellus
Theatre of Marcellus and columns of a Temple of Apollo rebuilt by Augustus. 2006

Augustus had hoped that his sister Octavia's son Marcellus would succeed him but he died young - perhaps at the hand of Livia? Augustus dedicated a theatre to Marcellus in 12 BC, the remains of which can be seen south west of the Piazza Venezia on the Via del Teatro di Marcello. Very close to it are three columns which are the only remnants of a Temple of Apollo, rebuilt by Augustus.

Augustus died in 14AD, leaving behind an impressive number of new buildings: three new aqueducts, the Forum of Augustus, many new temples and monuments including the Temple of Apollo on the Palatine Hill. Augustus had purchased a house on this site which had been struck by lightning in 36 BC. The haruspices (specialists in divination)1 pronounced that it was a sign that the god Apollo wished Augustus to build a temple to him on the spot.

Much of what we know comes from the Res Gestae, his own account of his achievements, in which he claims to have spent vast sums on the Roman people and their city.

He held lavish games involving thousands of gladiators and exotic animals from Africa. His civil reforms included the creation of the Vigiles - firefighters and policeman.

Theatre of Marcellus
Temple of Mars in the Forum of Augustus

Rome enjoyed what is called the Pax Romana, a period of peace and stability, for two hundred years from the time of Augustus.

In terms of the political situation Augustus gave the Senate its full powers, proclaiming that he wished to return Rome to a Republic, albeit a Senate purged of suspect elements. But he remained the principal citizen and absolute ruler, awarded the title Augustus which helped to distance him from his bloody rise to power as Octavius, and emperor in all but name.

 

 

 

References

  1. Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide By Amanda Claridge; Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, 2010.
  2. Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities: Domus Tiberiana
  3. British School at Rome: Domus Aurea