The home of the first emperor of Rome is finally due to reopen to the public following three decades of restoration.

Dating from around 30BC, the residence was home to Augustus before he became emperor of Rome and the complex of rooms is covered in bright paintings that are particularly well preserved.

The rooms are located on the Palatine Hill in the heart of Rome and were first discovered in the 1970s, with a small studio on the upper floor thought to have been used by Augustus for privacy. They were closed in the 1980s and millions have been spent carefully restoring them.

Believed to have been buried after Augustus moved higher up the Palatine Hill - when he seized power after the assassination of his great-uncle, Julius Caesar - the frescoes in the residence have been described as "extraordinary" and many have been pieced back together from fragments.

The rooms will be open from March 2nd 2008, along with the home of Augustus' wife Livia, with visitors admitted in small groups to protect the paintings.

The Palatine Hill has provided a wealth of ruins and artefacts for archaeologists, including the discovery of an underground grotto thought to be worshipped by Romans as the place where Romulus and Remus were nursed by a she-wolf.