Regia

The Regia ("Royal house")¹ was a two-part structure in Ancient Rome lying along the Via Sacra at the edge of the Roman Forum that originally served as the residence or one of the main headquarters of kings of Rome and later as the office of the pontifex maximus, the highest religious official of Rome.² It occupied a triangular patch of terrain between the Temple of Vesta, the Temple of Divus Julius and Temple of Antoninus and Faustina. Only the foundations of Republican/Imperial Regia remain. Like the Curia it was destroyed and rebuilt several times, as far back as the Roman monarchy. Studies have found multiple layers of similar buildings with more regular features, prompting the theory that this "Republican Regia" was to have a different use.

History

According to ancient tradition it was built by the second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, as a royal palace.³ Indeed, the Latin term regia can be translated as royal residence. It is said that he also built the Temple of Vesta and the House of the Vestal Virgins as well as the Domus Publica. This created a central area for political and religious life in the city and Kingdom. When Caesar became Pontifex Maximus, he exercised his duties from the Regia.

The archives of the pontifices were kept here, the formulas of all kinds of prayers, vows, sacrifices, etc., the state calendar of sacred days, the Annales — the record of events of each year for public reference — and the laws relating to marriage, death, wills, etc.