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This huge compound bolstered by a man-made lake, is estimated to have had anarea of 985 ft length by 295 ft width – which is equivalent of more than five American football fields! As Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, a Roman historian who wrote during early 2nd century AD, mentioned how the villa complex pertained to ‘ rus in urbe‘ (or ‘countryside in the city’) with its idyllic incorporation of tree groves, vineyards, an artificial lake, and even pastures of land with animal flocks.
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Suffice it to say, the entire Domus Aurea complex covered an extensive area – and it supposedly encompassed parts of the Palatine, Esquiline and Caelian hills. For example, the so-called ‘Golden Vault’ flaunted its gilded ceiling, marble panels and a scene from Greek Mythology involving the abduction of Ganymede by Zeus.
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These were accompanied by walls with grandiosely conceived frescoes and over 140 rooms with variant thematic elements (and 11-m high ceilings). The two-storied Roman villa also incorporated stuccoed ceilings that were embedded with semi-precious stones and ivory veneers.
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The ostentatious scale was however not just limited to these exterior facades. The very name is derived from the facade components of the building that were overlaid with gold leaf, along with complementary embellishments of rare gems and seashells. What is So ‘Golden’ about this House?Ĭonstructed of brick and concrete, the imposing Domus Aurea (or the ‘Golden House’) was built between the period of 64 – 68 AD. Lastly, the reasoning behind foul play being involved can be made moot – since the fire started only two days after a full-moon, which would have made the task of identifying the arsonists very easy. Historically, he was quite fond of this abode, and even proceeded on to salvage many of the marble works that were later used inside Domus Aurea. Furthermore, parts of Nero’s own palace – Domus Transitoria, was destroyed by the engulfing flames. Now, obviously this had lead many to accuse Nero of starting the fire, as he would have gained some leverage over the real-estate situation of the capital.īut many of these allegations are seemingly unsubstantiated – mainly because the original fire started on the other side of the Palatine Hill, almost a kilometer away from where the founding stone of Domus Aurea was laid. How so? Well, as we fleetingly mentioned earlier, the fire managed to destroy many grand buildings inside Rome, while at the same time ‘clearing the way’ along large city zones for future construction projects. It is pretty safe to assess that Domus Aurea wouldn’t have existed if the Great Fire of Rome didn’t occur on the night between 18th and 19th July in the year 64 AD. This is because the massive amphitheater was rather built on a site that previously catered to Nero’s artificial lake by his Golden house. The latter part of the video superimposes the Colosseum on the water body that flanked the ‘villa’ on one side. This animated video mainly deals with the magnificent external features of the Domus Aurea. Given such ‘extremes’ of circumstances and results, Altair4 Multimedia has given a go at reconstructing the entire monumental structure with the use of some fascinating 3D rendering techniques. Designed as a large landscaped portico villa, the expansive project (patronized by Emperor Nero) was started in 64 AD, after the Great Fire of Rome had destroyed many of the aristocratic and civic buildings – especially on the slopes of the Palatine Hill. The Domus Aurea (or Golden House) aptly harks back to this progress of Roman building skills in terms of excessive magnificence. And sometimes such scopes of expertise even reached obsessive and (we daresay) ‘decadent’ levels. Beyond the ambit of military triumphs, the Romans were known for both their architectural and engineering prowess.