Palatine Hill - Palace of the Flavians Palazzo dei Flavi

The ruins of the Palace of the Flavians lie in the center of the Palatine hill. Built by an architect named Rabirius at the end of the first century A.D. for the Emperor Domitian (a member of the Flavian dynasty), the Domus Flavia was designed to provide a setting for the increased splendor and display which the Emperors now demanded. The building undoubtedly met these enhanced requirements with its large pillared courtyard (peristyle), the spacious dining-room (triclinium) to the south, the throne room (aula regia) to the north, a rectangular hall 30.5m/100ft by 38.7m/127ft with an apse at one end, the shrine of the domestic gods (lararium) and a basilica which probably served as a law court.