Stage 2 – Roman Forum and Palatine Hill: The Seal of the Beginning

Info

This entry is part of the city game "The Mystery of the Nine Seals", which takes place entirely in Rome. The game is an addition to the basic tourist guide to Rome - [click] and is a story expansion designed to make the traditional tour of the city more enjoyable.
If you got here, for example, directly from a search engine and want to start the game from the beginning, go to game start page - [click]. If you are looking for just a guide to Rome with practical information about sightseeing, you can go to traditional guide to Rome - [click]

Roman Forum and Palatine Hill

The Roman Forum is on the map number 2. This is a large archaeological site and it will take you at least an hour to walk around it.

GPS coordinates

GPS: 41.892602, 12.485572 - click and plot the route to your destination

Narration

Your journey takes you to Palatine Hill, the place where brother killed brother. It is said that the ground here still bears the mark of Remus's spilled blood.
Old voices whisper among the ruins. Do you hear them? They know this is where it all began.

Puzzle

Which hill was the birthplace of Rome?

(You'll find the correct answer at the bottom of this page, but don't look there right away. Try to answer the riddle yourself first. That's the fun of it!)

Prize

The reward for solving the puzzle is the second seal: Seal of the Ancestors - symbol of the birth of the empire. Keep it as proof of solving the second task!

Historical curiosities with a hint of mystery

When you enter the ruins of the Roman Forum, you step onto a sacred pavement. This is the place where the fate of the world has been decided for millennia. But it is not just a forum. It is an echo of an ancient empire, still pulsating in the earth.
Palatine is the hill where, as the myth goes, Romulus founded Rome. But before he built the walls, he killed his own brother. The land on Palatine – beautiful, green, covered in the ruins of imperial palaces but hiding blood. This is where myth and history, dream and sacrifice meet.
Some say that when you stand in the ruins of the House of Augustus, everything suddenly becomes quiet, as if the air were being transported back to the time when the first emperor lived. And that in this silence you can hear the heartbeat of the city.

The stone that knows the truth

In the center of the Forum is the so-called Umbilicus Urbis, or the navel of the city, the point from which all distances in the empire were measured. Legend has it that whoever stands there in silence and closes their eyes can hear one true thought from the past (not necessarily their own).

Black Stone Slab

Nigra Lapis – a black stone near the Curia, under which the body of Romulus is said to lie. But others say it is the tomb of someone much older – a figure from before the city was founded. The slab can be cold even in full sunlight.

Villa Livi

The home of the wife of Emperor Augustus was supposed to be a place of exceptional energy. Frescoes of long-haired figures in white have survived – some believe they are representations of the Vestal Virgins or guardians of the old religion who still watch over the hill.

Domus Transitoria and the Vanished Staircase

Nero built a secret passage under the Palatine to his gardens. To this day, it is not known exactly where it led – one of the descents disappeared after an earthquake. It is said that someone dared to go down… and did not return.

The Hill as a Portal

Some occult researchers consider Palatine to be a so-called ley line crossing point – a place of power. It was believed that on certain days of the year one could cross over here “to the other side”, and Romulus himself disappeared here, in a luminous storm, as the legend claims.

***

"A city is being born on the Palatine. But in its shadow, questions are also being born that are better left unanswered."

***

Entrance tickets and practical information about the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill

More interesting information and practical advice, including information on purchasing entrance tickets to the monument, can be found in a separate fragment about the Roman Forum – [click]

Answer to the riddle

Click to reveal the answer to the riddle

Rome was founded on the Palatine Hill

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