Imperial Palace
The imperial palace stands on the summit of the Palatine and extends to its slopes, occupying much of the hill. It was built by the architect Rabirius on the orders of Domitian (AD 81-96) and inaugurated in AD 92; it was the official residence of all later emperors. The palace was divided into three sectors: an official or "public" area (the so-called Domus Flavia), a sector hosting private apartments (the so-called Domus Augustana) and a large garden in the form of a stadium with its annexes (the so-called Stadium). The palace was made of brick and its massive foundations were superimposed on earlier buildings, some of which (the "House of the Griffins", the so-called Domus Transitoria) can be visited underneath the Domitianic structures. Conserved to almost its original extent, the palace represented a turning point in the history of Roman architecture, codifying the typology of the dynastic palace in Rome. Its importance is evident from the fact that the word "palace" itself (palazzo, palais, palacio, etc.) comes from the Latin Palatium, or Palatine, because this is where the first imperial residence was built, a model for all later palaces. Its construction made a deep impression on Domitian's contemporaries. Statius and Martial, his court poets, composed admiring descriptions of it, praising its extraordinary size, the beauty of its decorations and the luxury of its furnishings. "The palace was so vast", wrote Martial, "that one's eyes became tired looking at it, and so tall that in comparison the pyramids of Egypt seemed laughable".
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