The house where Rome's first emperor lived in before he was crowned has opened this week to the public for the first time since it was discovered nearly half a century ago.
The house is on Palatine Hill, just above what is believed to be the grotto where Romans once worshiped the city's founders, Romulus and Remus. The home features exquisite murals in deep and vibrant shades of red, yellow, green and blue.
Augustus lived there in his youth, before moving to his imperial palace higher on the hill.
Born Gaius Octavius in 63 B.C., the future emperor was named adoptive son and heir of his great-uncle Julius Caesar when he was 18 years old. After the civil wars that followed Caesar's assassination, Gaius Octavius was made emperor in 29 B.C., taking the name Augustus.
He was deified after his death in 14 A.D., and a calendar month -- Sextilis -- was renamed Augustus (August) in his honor.
The architect of the "Pax Romana" (Roman peace), a 200 -year period of peace and prosperity after years of civil war, Augustus was known for his fear of thunder and lightning and for his dislike of ostentation and excess.
"For more than 40 years, he used the same bedroom in winter and summer...If ever he planned to do anything in private or without interruption, he had a [designated] place at the top of the house," the Roman historian and biographer Suetonius wrote in his "Life of Augustus."
Describing the house on Palatine Hill, Suetonius pointed out that the residence "was remarkable neither for size nor elegance, having short colonnades with columns of Alban stone, and rooms without any marble decorations or handsome pavements."
Indeed, despite the vaulted ceilings and painted rooms, the house is less than palatial: Visitors are shown four modest, windowless rooms -- an entrance hall, the Room of the Masks, the Room of the Pines, and a small study -- Augustus' retreat -- on the floor above.
Bringing the Outdoors in
Augustus' house was first discovered by archaeologist Gianfilippo Carettoni in the early 1960s. It took decades of patient restoration and nearly 2 million euros to piece back together fragments of the frescoes emerging from the dig.
"It has been like piecing together a huge puzzle," Italy's culture minister Francesco Rutelli said at the opening ceremony.
The windowless rooms feature comic masks, flowers, mythical animals, and garden vistas emerging from yellow columns, showing startling depth in what may have been a primitive form of virtual reality.
Indeed, the murals suggest 3-D architectural structures on two-dimensional surfaces: Augustus' small study is decorated with painted windows and columns, while another room has a theatrical theme. A wall is painted like a stage with narrow side doors and comic masks peering through small windows.
"One of the most interesting rooms is undoubtedly Augustus' study. It was here, in this small room, that he retired to take the most important decisions," said Daniela Scagliarini Corlaita, a professor of Roman archeology at Bologna University in northern Italy.
In a joint project with the UCLA Cultural Virtual Reality Lab and Bernard Frischer, a leading expert in virtual heritage reconstructions, Scagliarini created a computer model in which the small study has been virtually restored to its original condition.
"We have been able to digitally restore the lost areas in the wall paintings. Our reconstruction fills the white spots with the most likely scenes and shades of color. It is an important achievement. After all, this small room was the center of the world for years," Scagliarini Corlaita said.
Only five people at a time are allowed to enter the frescoed rooms due to their fragility and size.
From:http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/03/14/augustus-rome-house.html