A Week in Rome: Palatine Hill

Just across from the Colosseum is Palatine Hill, containing the palace built by Emperor Domition. According to the Rick Steves guidebook, Domitian built the palace to distance himself from nasty Emperor Nero, who's house we visited later in the trip. Domitian liked to have enough room in a house to stretch his legs, that's for sure. The path weaves through ruins such as Domitian's private stadium, where he had his own personal chariot races:

The round structure in the middle is where the Emperor sat, 2,000 years ago, and watched his athletes perform.

The arena was of course guarded by more of Emperor Burlusconi's vicious lions, this one apparently having given his leg in service:

Romans have loved fountains for a long, long time. Domitian had a modest one in his backyard.

When visiting Palatine Hill, be careful not to stub a toe. It could hurt more than you think. This thing is about the size of a St. Bernard.

Views abound, including all those famous Roman domes that seem to go on endlessly in the distance. And oh yes, we'll be visiting those domes in excruciating detail later on. Well, excruciating for us, as we climbed one of them--relatively easy for you.

Dad posed with a standing portion of the old palace.

We exited with a view of the Colosseum, which was very convenient for the Emperor.

In front of the Colosseum, Italian Police Uniform #1. We'll keep track of how many we see.

Coming next: where the Romans kept their treasure.