These are the huge buttresses in the centre of the picture.
It’s the Emperor Septimius-Severus who gave that grandiose
complex to the Palace, after a severe fire of the buildings in 191.
Actually the construction is the extension of the south-east angle
of the hill and demanded powerful arcades to sustain the whole building.
A belvedere offered a splendid sight over the Circus Maximus;
The
Baths of Septimius-Severus (
Balneum Palatii) were part of a complex close
to the Pulvinar, or imperial loggia in Domitian’s Stadium.
