"Having continued part of the Palatine as far as the Forum, he
converted the Temple of Castor and Pollux into the vestibule of his
house." "He built a bridge over the temple of the deified Augustus, by
which he joined the Palatine to the Capitol" (Suetonius). He connected
his palace with that of Tiberius by means of porticoes. The remains
consist of a suite of rooms, portions built over the Clivus Victoriæ,
chambers with fresco and stucco decorations, and mosaic pavements,
also a portion of the beautiful marble balustrade of the solarium.
Suetonius tells us that this palace was destroyed by fire; in fact,
most of the remains show the construction of Hadrian, who must have
rebuilt it and used it as his palace.
The remains of this palace have been recently uncovered at the
northern side of the Palatine. It appears that the palace was built in
a series of terraces against the Palatine Hill, the construction
showing work of Caligula, Trajan, and Septimius Severus. There are
some chambers which were warmed with hot air in terra-cotta pipes, and
containing fragments of statuary on the lowest level excavated. Then,
on the terrace above, there is an arcade paved with blocks of silex,
and on one side shops. A flight of travertine steps conducts to some
small chambers above, with mosaic pavements and frescoes, which were
built by Hadrian against a wall of Caligula having frescoes on yellow
and white grounds. The side walls and vaults are decorated with
frescoes of the time of Hadrian.
[Illustration: PLAN OF THE PALACE OF DOMITIAN, A.D. 81-96.
A, Tablinium.
B, Lararium.
C, Basilica.
D, Vestibule.
E, Tricliniarium.
F, Nymphæum.
G, Temple Jupiter Victor.
H, Vometarium.
K, Cubiculum.]
[Illustration: PLAN OF HOUSE OF GERMANICUS, A.D. 1]