 On the occasion of a new opening on the Palatine Hill, we can ask today, what was the Domus de Bibiana? This massive palatial structure attributed to the Emperor Tiberius, the successor of Augustus. Now we get access to portions of this palace that were not opened for 50 years. From the position on the Roman Forum, it's the Domus de Bibiana Palace that we see dominating the landscape, and now we're getting access to it. When we look at the top of the Palatine Hill, we can see this area delineated approximately 150 by 120 meters attributed to being the domicile of the Emperor Tiberius. And it's overlooking and distinct from the pre-existing sanctuary of Republican Titi's Victoria and Magnumater. So somewhere on that large terrace space, you have the first house of Tiberius, the stepson of Augustus, who already had his own house on the Palatine Hill. But so much of that palace attributed to Tiberius is obscured by the Renaissance Farnese gardens that we see here, the fountains and even the plantings on top of this massive terraced area. Few things remain on top, an exception is this fish pond. And when we look at the majority of the archaeological evidence around this area delineated as the Palace of Tiberius, the structures are actually much later. The earlier structures don't date to the time of Tiberius that we find in this platform, rather they're attributed to Caligula, the house of Gaius that we know is attached to the house of Tiberius originally in this location. Subsequently, that house is going to be destroyed, as is the memory of Caligula. But what comes in next that we have well preserved is this 130 meter long cryptoporticus, this underground passageway that's attached to the platform and it dates to the time of Nero. This is Nero who's going to have his Domus Tritensitoria, Nero who will finally make the definitive Domus Aurea extending here from the Palatine Hill over to the Esquiline. After the fire of 80, its demissions turn to have his hand in this palatial area and he's going to make a ramp and other structures leading down to the Palatine Hill, giving a new definitive approach to the Domus Tiberiana. And finally it's Hadrian that extends the platform forward over the Clevis Vittoriae that now we can have access to and extending over toward the Via Nova Street and that's the portion with these substructures that we're now going to access. How can we get up to the Domus Tiberiana today? Let's ascend a portion of the ramp built by Domitian, again built in coordination with that idea of giving access to the palace. That demission is going to have his own palace but in this case the ramp gives direct access to the Domus Tiberiana. Now this ramp has only been open for a number of years but it gives us an incredible insight into the connection to the lower palace built by Domitian which is now Centimony Antiqua Church and we're ascending we can imagine ourselves being a guest, someone of privilege zigzagging her way up immediately from the forum to the Domus Tiberiana and now with the new opening of the Domus Tiberiana we can turn right and we're going to go right on to the so-called Clevis Vittoriae and we're now beneath those extended substructures built by Hadrian. So pretty much everything we see here is Hadrianic and it simply is an extension of the terrace up on top on the Palatine hill extending it forward and it is just magnificent. So you can visit on the top and now you can visit down below and it's within some of these rooms, these are going to be utilitarian spaces, this is not going to be the private apartments of the Emperor, the Hivas on top, it's in these rooms that we now have museum spaces that tell us the history of the Domus Tiberiana. So an image like this, these materials out of terracotta, the terracotta plaques, the drainage spouts, these are going to be attributed to republican houses that are ultimately obliterated by the construction of the Domus Tiberiana. Here are a series of loom weights, you can even reconstruct it here, so there's all kinds of household activities taking place in the homes of the republican period. Here is a nice rendition of the Palatine hill in the time of Augustus, there's this house, there's the temple of Apollo, but the rest of it was houses like this. This is known today as the House of Augustus, but it actually is a house spot by Augustus and then buried and his house was placed on top and we have extraordinary frescoes preserved. We're also going to see a series of frescoes preserved in the Domus Tiberiana that are contemporary with these buildings and these substructures dating to the time of Hadrian. So when we peer through this little keyhole, we can see this beautiful Hadrianic fresco of leaves, flowers and a bird. Here's something a little more simply rendered in the fourth style, again a lot of these spaces are utilitarian and we have a series of frescoes that we can't get access to but do exist on some of these substructures, we can zoom in here to see a portion of it. So there are lots of frescoes that adorn the Hadrianic levels of the Domus Tiberiana. So there again we have the republican temples and here again we have a new rendition of the elevation of the Domus Tiberiana. There are other ideas because nothing is definitive but what's found in the excavation are statues. What's found in the excavation are going to be black and white mosaics still left in situ and other fragments of statues but tons of examples of the beautiful colored and white marbles that adored the private and public spaces of the Domus Tiberiana up above what an incredible museum space at the same time looking down at the house of the Vestal Virgins. This portion of Opus sectile is in the Palatine Museum above and so is this but they're both attributed to the Domus Tiberiana. How extraordinary it was in the time of Domitian in the time of Hadrian and the use of colored and white marbles it was something spectacular alabasters serpentino porphyry and so on all on display. We also have examples of the commonware the cookware we get some insight into the slaves that would have been here and manage this household and would feed the people that were coming to the banquets of the emperors. We also get signs of daily life like dice. We also get signs of daily life with countless amphorae that were used through the centuries as well as a great assortment of oil lamps that help us date the goings on in the palace of the mission over the centuries. Besides these substructures we can walk around to a number of terraces to appreciate the views of the Domus Tiberiana and we can understand better the various stories that make up the Domus Tiberiana on many levels and it really is a place worth getting to know. We have this great connection then down to the forum below. We have the Piano Nobile the royal floor above us and down below we have this tight connection with the Vinova with the house of the Vestal Virgins Colosseums in the distance it truly is extraordinary. Religion is a big part as well in the Domus Tiberiana. This is an alabaster tiger probably originally ridden by a statue of Bacchus or Dionysus. We also have here this IDQ which depicts Hippocrates the Egyptian god. Here's a marble satyr again a companion of Dionysus the god of wine obviously an important cult figure here. Here's a Kista maybe holding sacred implements and it is made of marble but to pick something made of a wicker. This is an oil lamp there's a whole series of these dating to the Severin period and it depicts Isis breastfeeding baby Hippocrates next to the god Serapis. Isis is also present in marble reliefs so we think about the importance of the prominence of this deity. We also have with Cates and Caltopates the cult of Mithras present in the Domus Tiberiana. So this is an extraordinary site this is an incredible palace and now it's accessible and keep in mind that the palace was a papal possession from the 5th to the 8th centuries and in particular Pope John the 7th actually lived in the Domus Tiberiana in the 8th century. Such an incredible location the Domus Tiberiana we hope you liked it we hope you like Ancient Rome live and you subscribe hit the like button and of course we offer free lectures all the time subscribe to our news channel and we'll see you somewhere in Rome or the Roman Empire. you