Palatine

 Our word "palace" derives from the Palatine Hill, home of Roman emperors from the 1st through 5th centuries A.D.  The video below takes you on a leisurely one-hour walk over the hill, which is a jumble of Roman and later ruins and buildings.  Likely the home of the original settlers of the village of the 8th and 9th centuries B.C., the Palatine later became the prestigious home of Roman patricians during the time of the Republic.  The residence of Augustus Caesar was on the hill and even after he established the Principate in 27 B.C. he kept his (relatively) modest residence as part of the elaborate facade he created as "restorer of the Republic", though in truth the Republic had perished.  It was his adopted son and successor, Tiberius, who built the first true palace on the hill and by the end of the 1st century with the construction of the enormous Palace of Domitian, the emperors were the only ones allowed to build on the hill.

On its northeast side the Palatine overlooked the Forum, to the southeast lay the Colosseum and Arch of Constantine, while on the west it overlooked the Circus Maximus (and the palace afforded a direct connection to the stadium).  It was also serviced directly by an elevated aqueduct delivering fresh water from twenty miles away.

Even after the abdication of the last Western Roman Emperor in 476 A.D., the Gothic rules used the palace when visiting from their capitol of Ravenna, until the Byzantine reconquest of 537.  It was around this time that the aqueduct failed and without a reliable supply of water, the Palatine could not support a substantial population.  Over the next centuries, the palaces fell into ruin with the astonishing multi-colored marble facades being stripped for use in other buildings and the statutes removed.  For more on the later history read Belisarius Enters Rome.

The best time to visit the Palatine is early morning just after it opens or late afternoon which gives you the best chance of avoiding crowds.  Even in mid-day it is a relative oasis of calm amidst the usual frenzy, noise, and chaos of life in the Rome.  I particularly enjoyed visiting the Farnese Gardens in the morning and looking down on the Forum (you can see this very spot about 40 minutes into the video which is best watched in full screen).