[3] The remains of the Domus Tiberiana lie on the northwest corner of the Palatine, facing the Velabrum and the Roman Forum below, with the Capitoline hill beyond.

The visible remains are those of the imposing arcaded support structures on the northern slope of the hill, built under Domitian, Trajan and Hadrian.

[5] On the level of the Forum the ruins of a vestibule complex, begun by Domitian and completed by Hadrian, lie behind the Temple of Castor and Pollux.

[7] Along the east side of the Tiberiana is a 130 meter (427 foot) long cryptoporticus from the time of Nero, with mosaic floors and poorly preserved frescoes.

[9] Scholarly consensus holds that Tiberius built a splendid house as princeps, which would form the base structure for a complex of buildings developed by his successors Caligula, Claudius and Nero.

[13] Anthony Barrett suggested that the name "may have been coined to define the original structure, to draw a distinction with the later period when the general term palatium became associated specifically with the huge palace complex built over the area by Domitian.

[25] Coarelli suggested that it was used to house the designated-heir to the ruling emperor, since both Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius lived there after they were adopted by Antoninus Pius.

It was restored again, and survived as an official residence after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, passing through the hands of the powers which occupied Rome successively from the 5th to the 8th centuries.

Pietro Rosa undertook excavations in the 1860s which uncovered the substructures on the north side of the hill and the central peristyle of the piano nobile.

[32][33] A high quality panel of opus sectile flooring, composed of several types of marble inlaid in a geometric pattern, was found during the excavations (1865–67) by Pietro Rosa and is on display in the Palatine Museum, along with the statues discovered at the site.