Chapters
Rome today still hides many secrets, and visitors to this city can encounter evidence of its former power at every step. The impressive Colosseum or Pantheon, evidence of ancient technical thought, proudly towers above the crowds of tourists. However, some places offer almost intimate experiences and contain the pure spirit of antiquity. For just such an experience, we can visit the house of Octavian Augustus himself.
The birthplace of Rome
The Roman Forum – once the bustling center of the capital, is now crowded with visitors. However, all you need to do is climb the nearby Palatine Hill and move slightly to the side to reach a place almost completely devoid of noise. It is on the Palatine Hill, among numerous ruins, that the Luperkal is located, a legendary cave discovered in 2007, where, according to myths, a she-wolf fed Romulus and Remus. Also here you can see the alleged remains of Romulus’ cottage, where the two brothers lived. The cottage itself appears in chronicles over the years until the 4th century AD, so it had long existed in the consciousness of the Romans of that time. Finally, right next to the aforementioned Casa Romula, there is one of the best-preserved buildings on this hill – discovered relatively recently, in the 1960s, the house where the first emperor of Rome, Octavian Augustus, lived for many years.
Octavian, who was born on the Palatine Hill as Gaius Octavius, grew up in his hometown of Velletri near Rome. In his adult life, however, he returned to the legendary Palatine Hill and around 40 B.C. he took over the house previously belonging to the famous orator Hortencius Hortalus. He chose this house as his headquarters and remained there as emperor until he died in 14 CE. Not without significance for the ruler was that this place was identified with the birth of the Eternal City, which provided additional legitimacy for the new, absolute ruler after the fall of the Republic.
Inside a modest residence
Domus Augusti (which should not be confused with part of the adjacent, huge palace of Emperor Domitian, called Domus Augstana), at least from the outside, did not impress with its grandeur, which was in line with Octavian’s intentions. The emperor wanted his subjects to see him as a modest man, avoiding luxury, and caring primarily about the well-being of his subjects. Therefore, he expanded the house only as much as was necessary to be able to hold office, work comfortably and entertain guests. He knew how to take care of his image in the eyes of his subjects, and according to Suetonius, during the first expansion in 36 B.C. lightning struck the building, Octavian took it as a sign from the god Apollo, with whom he had linked his fate in recent wars, and then ordered a temple to be built in this place and declared the place public property. In response to this sacrifice on the part of the emperor, according to the words of the historian Cassius Dio, the Senate decided that the surrounding areas should be handed over to Augustus, which allowed for further expansion.
After all, Augustus was emperor, and the residence itself, although not impressive in size, was richly decorated over the years and must have impressed visitors. As the poet Ovid wrote, it was a house worthy of a god. Today (after extensive conservation, the interior was made available to visitors in 2008) we can see this for ourselves by looking at the very decorations that Octavian Augustus looked at. Domus Augusti contains very well-preserved floor mosaics and some of the best-preserved examples of Roman painting.
The frescoes constituting the basis of the decoration were painted in the so-called second Pompeian style, which of course corresponded to the era in which they were created. These paintings, consisting of vivid colors and complex geometric elements, created illusions that were intended to create the impression of larger spaces in rooms.
Throughout the house you will find several rooms, each decorated with a unique theme. The greatest impression on visitors is probably the “Room of Masks”, which was most likely Octavian’s bedroom. Here you can see impressive theater masks on the walls surrounded by stage decorations.
Other interesting rooms include the “Pine Room” next door, with rich decorations depicting pine garlands and Doric columns, and the “Perspective Room” with a delightful spatial illusion.
The most interesting, however, is probably another, inconspicuous room located on the upper floor, which, according to sources, was the emperor’s office. So we can look into the room where over 2,000 years ago, Octavian Augustus, the adopted son of Julius Caesar, spent time alone and, looking at these frescoes, decided matters of the Empire.
New Palatine
The entire residence, ultimately consisting of several buildings, including the temple of Apollo, was built around two small peristyle courtyards, surrounded by a columned portico. Today, there is another building belonging to the imperial residence, known as Livia’s House, which most likely belonged to Octavian’s wife. Here, too, frescoes and floors from the same period have been preserved in very good condition, showing us the interiors in which the richest Romans of that time lived.
The Palatine was already a place where many aristocratic villas were located during the times of Octavian, but the presence of the emperor established a new status for this place. Thus, for many years, the successors of the first ruler of the Empire also chose the Palatine Hill as their seat, and already several dozen years after the death of Octavian Augustus, Emperor Domitian built a huge palace complex, the construction of which required the demolition of many buildings (including Nero’s palace, which had been built only a little earlier), as well as also extension of the hill. Domitian’s bold construction changed the image of the Palatine forever, but the complex he built served many subsequent emperors.
The Domus Augusti, of course, remained intact at that time, and although over the years it lost its importance and fell into ruin, and finally disappeared underground for many years, it has fortunately survived to this day, thanks to which we can today walk the same corridors that Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian walked in his own home.
