Palatine Hill rises directly above the forum, and was the home of the emperors. Each emperor tended to build his own palace (by the way the word palace comes from the Palatine hill), and each liked his to be grander than the next. Unfortunately the hill was only so big, so subsequent emperors built huge platforms extending off the hill so they could continue their construction sprees that bankrupted the empire. Even more unfortunately, this area was also abandoned and most of these palaces are largely lost. The hill was used mainly by grazing goats, giving it the name goatherders hill in the middle ages. They are now starting to excavate the place, so it may look totally different as they dig, but for now there isn't that much to see apart from excavation sites, a small museum, some foundations, and a well preserved stadium for private gymnastic events.

We then moved on to the most atmospheric part of Rome, the ancient Roman forum. This huge area is a jumble of ruins from various centuries, picturesquely overgrown with trees in parts. This was the center of the world for a thousand years, where the Senate determined the fate of the world, and the all the world's goods could be bought and sold in the markets. When Rome moved from republic to empire, the forum became less important, as the emperors' palace up the hill became the center of power and the Senate just a place for old men to talk. Commerce too moved out to Trajan's newer shopping mall, leaving the forum as a huge tourist attraction even in ancient times, full of souvenir stands, fortune tellers and prostitutes (even in the ruins today there's a road market out for male prostitutes from northern Italy).

The forum sits in the valley between the Palatine Hill, where the emperors lived, and Capitoline hill, where the city's chief temple sat and where the emperor had to go frequently to attend to his ceremonial duties. We have unfortunately lost the coolest ancient site ever, unfortunately, which was a huge bridge connecting the Palatine and Capitoline hills, which shot straight over the whole Forum, enabling the emperors to walk from home to the shrine without ever having to go through the human zoo below.