The urban transformation undergone by Milan as the official seat of Maximianus, involved, above all, the western part of the city layout where the imposing complex of the Imperial Palace was constructed. Residential and ambassadorial sectors, private baths and the Circus took up an entire sector of the city near the walls which Maximianus himself had extended. The only visible traces of this vast polyfunctional quarter, which stayed in use perhaps up until the tenth century, are the remains of an ambassadorial building which had central heating; many archaeological remains are probably to be found under the buildings around via Brisa.
