Exquisitely preserved frescoed rooms in the ruined house of Augustus, the first Emperor of Rome,open to the public for the first time after decades of restoration works in Rome, Italy on March 09, 2008.

ITALY - MARCH 09: Exquisitely preserved frescoed rooms in the ruined house of Augustus, the first Emperor of Rome, open to the public for the first time since they were unearthed nearly half a century ago. Archaeologists say that the future emperor lived in the house on the Palatine Hill above the Forum in about 30BC, before he gained supreme power and built his imperial palace complex higher up the hill. The paintings have been restored at a cost of nearly 2 million.The wall and ceiling paintings in the house - discovered in the 1960s by the Italian archeologist, Gianfilippo Carrettoni - are in vivid red, blue and ochre. They include a small study, believed to have been Augustus's private retreat. Originally called Octavian, Augustus was the great-nephew and adopted son of Julius Caesar, and took the name Augustus on becoming sole ruler in 27BC after the civil wars that followed Caesar's assassination. His rise ended the Roman Republic and marked the beginning of the Roman Empire. He died in 14AD. Some decorations on the walls and vaulted ceilings were found intact, while others have been pieced together from fragments. In one room, dubbed the Room of the Pines, the walls are painted to represent yellow columns. In another, known as the Room of the Masks, a wall is painted like a stage, with narrow side doors standing ajar, comic masks peering through small windows and painted garden vistas beyond. The Palatine Hill is where Rome's first huts were buillt under Romulus, and where the homes and palaces of the imperial elite later rose. (Photo by Eric VANDEVILLE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)