Villa of Augustus on Palatine Hill Now Open To The Public

Exquisitely preserved frescoed rooms in the ruined house of Augustus, the first Emperor of Rome, were opened to the public today for the first time since they were unearthed nearly half a century ago.

Archaeologists say that the future emperor lived in the house on the Palatine Hill above the Forum in about 30BC, before he gained supreme power and built his imperial palace complex higher up the hill. The paintings have been restored at a cost of nearly €2 million (£1.5 million).

The wall and ceiling paintings in the house - discovered in the 1960s by the Italian archeologist, Gianfilippo Carrettoni - are in vivid red, blue and ochre. They include a small study, believed to have been Augustus's private retreat...

Some decorations on the walls and vaulted ceilings were found intact, while others have been pieced together from fragments. In one room, dubbed the Room of the Pines, the walls are painted to represent yellow columns.

In another, known as the Room of the Masks, a wall is painted like a stage, with narrow side doors standing ajar, comic masks peering through small windows and painted garden vistas beyond.

Visitors will enter the rooms in small groups to avoid damage to the delicate frescoes, restored after 20 years of excavation and conservation at the site by a team led by Irene Jacopi, the archaeologist in charge of the Palatine Hill.

Angelo Bottini, superintendent of archeology for Rome, said that a new combined ticket would provide access to the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, and the Palatine Hill, including the house of Augustus.

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Topographer claims Palatine cave not fabled Lupercal

"A leading Roman topography expert said a grotto found under the home of Emperor Augustus in the Italian capital is not the historical Lupercal cave.

Roman Antiquity Professor Filippo Coarelli wrote in a La Repubblica article Friday that there is not "a shred of evidence" the grotto is the legendary Lupercal where Roman founders worshiped a she-wolf.

Coarelli claimed that the cave, located under Rome's Palatine Hill, was likely a monument devoted to water nymphs or a fountain built "in the first few decades of the imperial era," ANSA reported Friday.

He said the cave's decorations ''have nothing to do with the appearance of the mythical grotto, which is known from ancient descriptions and numerous paintings." If you enjoyed this post, never miss out on future posts by following me by email!

Site of ancient Lupercalia found in excavations on the Palatine Hill

Italian archaeologists have inched closer to unearthing the secrets behind one of Western civilization's most enduring legends.

On Tuesday, the government released photographs of a deep cavern where some archaeologists claim that ancient Romans honored Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome.

The cavern, now buried 16 meters, or 52 feet, under the ruins of Emperor Augustus's palace on the Palatine Hill, has a height of 7.1 meters and a diameter of 6.5 meters. Photographs taken of the cave by a camera probe show a domed cavern decorated with extremely well-preserved colored mosaics and seashells. At the center of the vault is a painted white eagle, a symbol of the Roman Empire.

"This could reasonably be the place bearing witness to the myth of Rome," Italy's minister of culture, Francesco Rutelli, said at a news conference in Rome on Tuesday where a half-dozen photos were displayed to journalists.

The myth concerns Lupercal, whose name comes from "wolf" and refers to the mythical cave where Romulus and Remus - the sons of the god Mars who were abandoned by the banks of the Tiber - were found by a female wolf who suckled them until they were found and raised by a shepherd named Faustulus. The brothers are said to have gone on to found Rome on April 21, 753 B.C., with the legend culminating in fratricide when Romulus killed his twin in a power struggle.

The cave later became a sacred location where the priests of Lupercus celebrated certain ceremonies until A.D. 494. At that time Pope Gelasius put an end to the practice.

It is that location that has been discovered, according to some leading archaeologists. Its presence was first announced in January by Irene Iacopi, the archaeologist in charge of the Palatine. It was found during restoration work on the palace of Augustus, Rome's first emperor, after workers took core samples from the hill and were then alerted to the possible presence of the cave.

"This is one of the most important discoveries of all time," Andrea Carandini one of Italy's most renowned archaeologists, said Tuesday.

Carandini has long held that the myths of ancient Rome, at least in some slightly altered iteration, could quite possibly be true, and so he derived added satisfaction from the find.

"The fact that this sanctuary is under the lower part of the house of Augustus is significant because Augustus was a kind of Romulus himself who refounded Rome and he did it in the place where Romulus had been," he said.

The positioning of the cave, discovered at the base of a hill between the Temple of Apollo and the Church of St. Anastasia, could prove to be problematic for continued excavation.

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Palace of the Emperor Augustus to Reopen

I'm so excited to see this note. My friend Richard White had previously toured the Palatine Hill and told me there wasn't much to see there. This will probably change his mind!

"Emperor Augustus' frescoed palace atop Rome's Palatine Hill, one of the city's famous seven hills, will partially reopen to the public March 2 after decades of restoration work, officials said Monday.

Since the palace was closed in the 1980s, experts have spent at least $17.6 million to restore the porticoed garden of Rome's first emperor and piece together precious frescoes that time had reduced to fragments. The palace was built in the first century B.C.

Groups of up to 10 people will be guided through the decorative marvels in Augustus' studio and in the hall where the emperor received guests, as well as rooms in the nearby palace built for his wife, Livia.

"We can finally enter into these places that have been preserved for some 2,000 years," said Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni.

Restoration of other parts of the residence will continue, officials said."

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