Hippodromus Palatii

The Hippodrome is one of the largest garden facilities in the Imperial Palace on the Palatine Hill in Rome. This monograph provides the first comprehensive analysis of its architectural ornamentation. On this foundation, the structure’s decorative systems are reconstructed. By analyzing the Hippodrome’s architectural decoration and assessing its place within the palace facility itself – as well as within the broader context of garden and villa architecture of the imperial period – we reach a new understanding of the structure, and how it was integrated into Rome’s Imperial Palace. This work contributes to the study of the architectural decoration of the city of Rome while simultaneously closing a gap in the study of the Imperial Palace as a whole.