Palace of Augustus in Rome to Reopen*

Monday December 10, 2007 6:16 PM

ROME (AP) - Emperor Augustus' frescoed palace atop Rome's Palatine Hill,
one of the city's famous seven hills, will partially reopen to the
public March 2 after decades of restoration work, officials said Monday.

Since the palace was closed in the 1980s, experts have spent at least
$17.6 million to restore the porticoed garden of Rome's first emperor
and piece together precious frescoes that time had reduced to fragments.
The palace was built in the first century B.C.

Groups of up to 10 people will be guided through the decorative marvels
in Augustus' studio and in the hall where the emperor received guests,
as well as rooms in the nearby palace built for his wife, Livia.

``We can finally enter into these places that have been preserved for
some 2,000 years,'' said Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni.

Restoration of other parts of the residence will continue, officials said.

Augustus seized control in the power struggles following the
assassination of his great-uncle, Julius Caesar, and ruled Rome from 29
B.C. until his death in A.D. 14. Revered by contemporaries as a wise and
godlike leader, he ushered in a period of peace and prosperity for the
empire.

The word ``palace'' comes from the name of the Roman hill, once the
place of choice for Rome's rich and powerful and today a treasure trove
for archaeologists.

Last month, officials unveiled an underground grotto next to Augustus'
palace and believed to have been revered by ancient Romans as the place
where a wolf nursed the city's legendary founder Romulus and his twin
brother, Remus.

The Palatine is honeycombed with ruins, from the eighth century B.C.
remains of Rome's first huts to a medieval fortress and Renaissance
villas. The remains are fragile and plagued by collapses, forcing
officials to close many of the sites to the public.