Editing Palace (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:0 Domus Augustana (1).JPG|thumb|right|[[Domus Augustana]] of [[Palatine Hill]] in [[Rome]], [[Italy]], the origin of the term "palace"]]
[[File:Monasterio de El Escorial en Madrid.jpg|thumb|The [[El Escorial|Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial]], in [[Spain]], is a Renaissance complex that has functioned as a royal palace, monastery, basilica, pantheon, library, museum, university and hospital.]]
[[File:Musei Capitolini 20150812.jpg|thumb|[[Piazza del Campidoglio|Palazzo Senatorio]], seat of the municipality of [[Rome]], [[Italy]]. It has been a [[town hall]] since 1144, making it the oldest town hall in the world.<ref name="Falconi">{{cite book|first=Fabrizio |last=Falconi |year=2015 |title=Roma segreta e misteriosa|publisher=Newton Compton Editori |isbn=9788854188075 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=rgrkCgAAQBAJ| access-date=19 August 2019 |language=it}}</ref>]]
The word ''palace'' comes from [[Old French]] ''palais'' (imperial residence), from [[Latin]] ''[[Palatine Hill|Palātium]]'', the name of one of the [[seven hills of Rome]].<ref name="AHD">{{cite book|title=American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company|year=2000|isbn=0-618-08230-1|edition=4th|location=Boston}}</ref> The original "palaces" on the Palatine Hill were the seat of the imperial power. At the same time, the "capitol" on the [[Capitoline Hill]] was the religious nucleus of Rome. Long after the city grew to the seven hills, the Palatine remained a desirable [[residential area]]. Roman emperor Caesar [[Augustus]] lived there in a purposely modest house only set apart from his neighbours by the two laurel trees planted to flank the front door as a sign of [[Roman triumph|triumph]] granted by the [[Roman Senate|Senate]]. His descendants, especially [[Nero]] with his "[[Domus Aurea]]" (the Golden House), enlarged the building and its grounds over and over until it took up the hilltop. The word ''Palātium'' came to mean the residence of the emperor rather than the [[neighbourhood]] on top of the hill.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}

''Palace'', meaning "government", can be recognized in a remark of [[Paul the Deacon]], writing {{circa|790 AD}} and describing events of the 660s: "When Grimuald set out for Beneventum, he entrusted his palace to Lupus" (''[[Historia Langobardorum]]'', V.xvii). At the same time, [[Charlemagne]] was consciously reviving the Roman expression in his "[[Palace of Aachen|palace]]" at [[Aachen]], of which only his [[chapel]] remains. In the 9th century, the "palace" indicated the government's housing too, and Charlemagne constantly traveled, building fourteen. In the early Middle Ages, the ''[[palas]]'' was usually that part of an imperial palace (or ''[[Kaiserpfalz]]'') that housed the [[Great Hall]], where affairs of state were conducted; continued to be used as the seat of government in some [[Germany|German]] cities. In the [[Holy Roman Empire]], the powerful independent [[Prince-elector|Electors]] came to be housed in palaces (''Paläste''). This has been used as evidence that power was widely distributed in the Empire; as in more centralized [[monarchy|monarchies]], only the monarch's residence would be a ''palace''.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}

In modern times, archaeologists and historians have applied the term to large structures that housed combined rulers, courts, and bureaucracy in "palace cultures". In informal usage, the term "palace" can be extended to a grand residence.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}