I have to be very frank here. I know nuts about Palatine Hill even though I have been there. The reason here is because my memory of it is very sketchy and limited, and there's not much information I could read on.
However, I can say that the most enjoyable part of my journey up the Palatine Hill was the walk along the Palatine Garden. I find the shapes of the trees delightful to watch; the whole garden itself was really beautiful.
We found some ruins on top of the hill. The guide told us that the Palatine Hill used to be the residence of the rich and the royalty during the Roman Period because the air was cooler and fresher here. The common people, on the other hand, lived at the bottom of the hill.
These are some of the interesting structures on the Palatine Hill. If I'm not wrong, the first picture is the Temple of Saturn and the second picture is the door to the library. I really don't get the names of the buildings at that time although there's truly one particular place that got my full attention.
It's the House of the Vestal Virgins. The statues found in its compound represented the six Vestal Virgins who were in service at that time. Some of the statues had lost their heads though.
In the past, the Emperor appointed 6 vestal virgins when they were still at a very young age. Their task is to perform sacred rites. For the rites to produce the desired results, the vestals had to remain pure (virgin). I found this interesting because I didn't know that the Romans were very superstitious and animistic in their beliefs. Since the emperor appointed the vestals, they were regarded very highly in the hierarchy and enjoyed privileges that normal women did not have, such as the owning of land. In addition to this, anyone injuring a vestal could be punished by death.
Hmm... that's all I have for the Palatine Hill. My next update will be on all the other places I have visited in Rome.
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