Palatine Hill

The Palatine Hill (Latin: Collis Palatinus, Italian: Colle Palatino) is the centralmost of seven hills of Rome, and one of the most ancient parts of the city. During the Renaissance, it was located in the Antico District.

History[edit | edit source]

The hill stands at 40 meters above the Roman Forum, looking down upon it on one side, and upon the Circus Maximus on the other.^[1]

According to Roman mythology, the hill was the location of the cave known as Lupercal where Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome, were found and kept alive by a she-wolf.^[1]

On 24 January 41 CE, the Hidden One Leonius assassinated the Roman Emperor Caligula, a puppet of the Order of the Ancients, in an underground corridor beneath the Palatine Hill.^[2]

During the early 16th century, the House of Borgia exerted their influence over the citizens of the district through a Borgia Tower built on the hill.^[3] In 1502, the Italian Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze rescued several slaves held there by the Templar Silvestro Sabbatini, while his Assassin apprentices killed Silvestro.^[4] The next year, as part of his quest to liberate Rome from Borgia rule, Ezio burned down the Palatine Hill's Borgia Tower and killed its captain, Prospero da Siena.^[3]

In 1506, Niccolò Machiavelli tasked Lo Sparviero to assassinate several Borgia agents who had killed four Assassin apprentices earlier that day. Lo Sparviero tracked the Borgia agents to the Palatine Hill, where he successfully avenged the deaths of his brothers and retrieved a chest that the Borgia had been unable to recover. Later, he also eliminated two Followers of Romulus on the hill.^[5]

Trivia[edit | edit source]

In Assassin's Creed: Identity, the position of the Borgia tower is different from Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, at it is closer to the Acquedotto Claudia. The Roman Forum is also more simplified, while the underground corridor is sealed and thus inaccessible.