Domus: Augustus

The house of Augustus stood on the SW *Palatine slope which rose above the *Circus Maximus between *Scalae Caci, the Temple of *Apollo, and the house of Livia (*Domus: Livia), from which it was separated by a narrow alley (see fig. 10 nos. 1-21, A, B, C, and R). The residence itself occupies an area of c. 350 m2 and forms part of a larger complex, over 12,000 m2, which included a Latin and a Greek library (*Bibliotheca Latina Graecaque), porticoes (*Porticus: Apollo) and the dominating Temple of Apollo (Iacopi 47). The house was conceived in such a way as to embrace the temple on the N, W and S, so that the residence of the princeps and his protective god were visually perceived as one and the same (Gros 57). The house was probably one of many occupied by the imperial family on the SW Palatine (Iacopi 46), and its construction reflects the planning and restructuring of the zone under Augustus who transformed the area into an urban block with streets and passages (Donderer 625-26; Corbier 876). Augustus, who once lived in a house which belonged to orator C. Licinius Macer Calvus next to the *Forum Romanum (s.v. *Scalae Anulariae) and later resided in the house of Hortensius (Suet., Aug. 72.1), had his Palatine residence built (or extended: Carettoni 1978, 72) after he returned to Rome from his victory at Naulochos in 36 B.C. (Vell. Pat. 2.81). His domus incorporated late-Republican houses, including those of the families of Q. Hortensius Hortalus and Q. Lutatius Catulus (Suet., Gram. 17; Vell. Pat., loc. cit.). Suetonius (Aug. 72.1) reports that the house of Hortensius was small and modest without marble revetment or mosaics; the residence may have been destroyed during the construction of the Temple of Apollo and the house of Augustus (Papi 116-17 associates it with Republican remains found under the Temple of Apollo; contra, Tamm 51, Degrassi 82, and Lugli 168, who identify it with the Domus: Livia; Royo 96 locates it further S of Domus: Livia). The house of Catulus, on the other hand, was considered one of the finest houses of its time (Pliny, NH 17.2); Augustus acquired this residence perhaps as early as 36 B.C. (Corbier 891) but certainly by 29 B.C., when he gave it to Agrippa (Dio Cass. 53.27.5; Richmond 212). Since Augustus’ grandsons Gaius and Lucius were tutored in the atrium of the Catulinae domus (Suet., Gram. 17), this house almost certainly belonged to their parents Julia and Agrippa and formed part of Augustus’ Palatine residence. The domus has been identified with the remains of a late 2nd- to early 1st-c. B.C. house (extant are a peristyle, early Second-Style frescoes resembling those of the *“Casa dei Grifi”, a fine mosaic pavement, and a basin for fish) discovered immediately SW of the house of Livia and extending toward the *Scalae Caci (fig. 10 C; Coarelli 97; Royo 97). According to the literary tradition, Augustus sought to establish the public character of his residence (Iacopi 46). Dio Cassius relates that the people of the city decided to erect his house at public expense after he consecrated to *Apollo the ground originally intended for the home since it had been struck by lightning (49.15.5; s.v. *Apollo, Templum). When Augustus was declared pontifex maximus in 12 B.C., his house became the residence of the city’s high priest (cf. *Domus Publica), so he made a section of the residence public and consecrated it to Vesta (Corbier 878; Dio Cass. 54.27.3; Iacopi 46; CIL I.1, p. 236). When the fire of A.D. 3 devastated parts of the house, Augustus reconstructed it with the financial help of the people (Suet., Aug. 57.2); thereafter the whole house became state property (Dio Cass. 55.12.4-5). Suetonius recounts the Augustan preference for modesty and simplicity (Aug. 73), yet Ovid alludes to the grandiosity of the complex, citing ‘buildings worthy of a god’ (tectaque digna deo: Trist. 3.1.33-34; Iacopi 46). Moreover, the variously colored marble architectural elements recovered in the excavations attest to the luxurious decoration of the house (Pensabene 184). Excavation of the residence was begun by P. Rosa in 1865-70, continued by A. Bartoli in 1937, and more recently taken up by G. Carettoni in 1956 (Iacopi 46). The house is built on two artificial terraces, one 7-9 m above the other. All that remains of the upper terrace is a small atrium (fig. 10 A), around which private quarters were probably located; the lower terrace is better preserved, though still far from complete. This lower level contained both public and private quarters, arrayed around a peristyle with peperino columns (fig. 10 B, only the NE and SE sides are extant; Iacopi 47). The house, like the nearby Temple of Apollo, dates between 36 and 28 B.C., based on the style of its architectural elements and the use of tufa opus quadratum together with opus reticulatum (Iacopi 48). Its fine Second-Style wall-paintings are either contemporary with or slightly older than the wall-paintings in the house of Livia (Richardson 118). The surviving rooms on the lower level can be divided into two zones: one to the NE, the other SE of the peristyle. The section NE of the peristyle comprises two suites of rooms. The first is a series of 7 rooms (nos. 1-7) flanking a central corridor (no. 3c) situated close to the Scalae Caci, off the N corner of the peristyle. Of the two large chambers NW of the corridor, one may have been used for storage (no. 1) and the other for the guards (no. 2), judging from their simple decoration and proximity to the entrance of the house (Iacopi 47; Carettoni 1983a, 19). To the east of the corridor was a group of smaller rooms, paved with simple black-and-white mosaics similar to those in the house of Livia, and decorated with Second-Style wall-paintings (nos. 3-7; Iacopi 47; Carettoni 1983a, 18-30). This suite was connected to the upper terrace by a staircase (no. 4). The second suite of rooms on this side of the peristyle consists of 7 symmetrically-arrayed rooms (nos. 8-14). At the center stands a large hall with a podium erected on three sides (no. 11); this space is conventionally called a tablinum (archives) due to its size, though it may have served as a small private school for Augustus’ grandsons (Carettoni 1983, 11). Flanking it are two symmetrical rooms (nos. 10, 12) with service and storage areas (nos. 10a, 12a). Outside these stand twin halls (nos. 9, 13) which probably served as Greek and Latin libraries, judging from the three large rectangular niches for books (contra, Strocka, who argues that the height of these niches made them inaccessible and their stuccowork unsuitable for shelving). The two symmetrical rooms at the farthest ends (nos. 8, 14) probably functioned as fauces (entrance halls) from the peristyle to this part of the house (Carettoni 1983a, 30). The small rectangular spaces opening onto the peristyle (no. 15a-h) probably served as decorative embellishments to the façade overlooking the *Circus Maximus (Carettoni 1967, 63). Based upon architectural elements recovered near the lower peristyle, Pensabene proposes that it had a two-storey façade with alternating exedrae and gates (no. 15a-h) framed behind a projecting colonnade with a trabeated entablature (158), similar to the façade of a theatrical stage-building (161). Further, Pensabene locates the heavily debated statues of the Danaids (s.v. *Porticus: Apollo) on the second storey of this colonnade, either standing on a low balustrade or at the cornice level (Pensabene 153-54, fig. 27). The second extant section of the house is found on the SE side of the peristyle (nos. 16-20). In the center is a large room (oecus) with a vaulted ceiling supported by four columns on plinths (no. 18). The only preserved room from the second storey of the lower peristyle is a small, finely-decorated space (no. 17; located above, but not connected to no. 16); this may have been the small studio, the Syracusae et Technyphion, where Augustus liked to retire (Suet., Aug. 72.2; Carettoni 1983a, 11). This room was only accessible from the terrace level of the peristyle (Iacopi 47). A private, vaulted ramp (no. 19, R) S of these rooms connected the house with the Temple of Apollo; such a connection is also present in Pergamon, where it linked the Attalid residence and the temenos of the Temple of Athena (Zanker 24). Further SE is a large reception hall symmetrical to the oecus that opens onto the courtyard of the libraries and is paved with marble (no. 20; Carettoni 1978, 72-73). The façade of this suite of rooms overlooking the Circus Maximus is interrupted by four doors leading to four rooms left unfinished for some unknown reason (no. 21a-d; Carettoni 1983a, 16; id. 1978, 72). Rooms 8-19 are differentiated by their finer quality Second-Style wall-paintings and marble floors; the superior decorations suggest that these rooms were utilized for reception or assembly (Richardson 118, Carettoni 1983a, 11, 30-45; Iacopi 47). Located somewhere along the outside of the house was an impressive entranceway crowned by laurel and oak (Ov., Trist., 3.1.33-40; Corbier 879), though it is not archaeologically known. These triumphal insignia graced the entrance to the house after 27 B.C. when Octavian was given the name Augustus (depicted on Augustan-era coinage, e.g. an aureus of L. Caninius Gallus, RIC I2 419). Soon after Augustus’ death in A.D. 14 the house went out of use, since 1st-c. A.D. building projects cut through and infilled the residence (Carettoni 16, Richardson 118). Our map renders an estimated ground plan: shown within a solid outline are the portions of the house well-attested through excavation; solid silver shading includes both the incompletely known area of the upper terrace and the segments extending towards the Circus Maximus, as well as the better-known portions of the lower terrace.