Palatino

This name derives from the Latin “Palātium > Palātīnus,” meaning “palace, relating to the palace, palatine, relating to counties palatine,” probably from Etruscan “Pales.” In ancient Roman religion, Pales was a deity of shepherds, flocks, and livestock. Regarded as male by some sources and female by others, Pales can be either singular or plural in Latin and refers at least once to a pair of deities. Marcus Atilius Regulus built a temple to Pales in Rome following his victory over the Salentini in 267 BC. It is generally thought to have been located on the Palatine Hill, but, being a victory monument, it may have been found on the route of the triumphal procession, either on the Campus Martius or the Aventine Hill. The Palatine Hill (Latin: Collis Palatium or Mons Palatinus; Italian: Palatino) is the centermost of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city. Pallantium was an ancient city near the Tiber river on the Italian peninsula. Roman mythology, as recounted in Virgil’s Aeneid, for example, states that the city was founded by Evander of Pallene and other ancient Greeks sometime previous to the Trojan War.