![]() ![]() Nero didn’t get to enjoy the luxuries of the Domus Aurea for very long. Even just sticking to the facts, Nero’s life was truly stranger than fiction. As the reality was so extraordinary anyway, it’s no wonder his detractors decided to embellish a few details. It seems unlikely, but the story is proof of Nero’s reputation. Legend has it that one unlucky guest was asphyxiated by the rose petals that fell from the ceiling. Nero’s decadent parties were legendary, though not always for the right reasons. It seems unlikely that Nero ever slept in the palace, as it was designed purely for entertainment purposes. There were over 300 rooms in the Domus Aurea, but no bedrooms. ![]() The main banquet hall was circular and constantly revolved day and night, like the heavens. The dining-rooms had fretted ceilings made of ivory, with panels that turned and shed flowers and perfumes on those below. In the rest of the house everything was coated with gold and adorned with gems and shells. Behind it were villas with fields, vineyards and pastures, woods filled with all kinds of wild and domestic animals. There was a lake too, in fact a sea, surrounded with buildings as big as cities. The vestibule of the house was so big it contained a colossal statue 120 feet high, the image of Nero and it was so extensive that it had three colonnades a mile long. Suetonius’s description is perhaps the most evocative, giving us a good idea of the scale and splendour of the palace: Nero, of course, was no ordinary human being. According to Suetonius, when the construction work was finally finished a few years later, Nero’s only comment was that he was at last beginning to be housed like a human being. The building was lavishly decorated with gold leaf, semi-precious stones and frescoes. The palace and its gardens were vast, by some estimates covering an area of up to 300 acres. You would expect the palace of an emperor to be luxurious, but even by the standards of Roman emperors, the Domus Aurea was excessive. ![]() Nero had extravagant tastes, and he took advantage of the fire of 64 AD, which had destroyed many buildings in the centre of Rome, to construct his personal palace. The Domus Aurea (“Golden House” in Latin), was the most opulent palace in Ancient Rome. Locals were soon queueing up to abseil into the cave and see these amazing paintings for themselves.Īlthough he had no idea where he was when he first stumbled into the cave, the young man had inadvertently discovered the Domus Aurea, Nero’s pleasure palace. He was astonished to find himself in an enormous cave decorated with painted figures and frescoes. While walking on the Esquiline Hill, he fell down a hole. One day in the fifteenth century, a young man went for a walk in Rome. ![]()
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