smalti

I'm enjoying the History Channel show so much (except, perhaps, for the details of the Colosseum's horrors). Can one tour the remaining part of Nero's Domus Aurea?

This is really making me want to visit Rome again, and I don't know when I can. I know some callous sophisticates on this site can travel to Europe whenever they wish , but that's not the case for me.

Anyone know about Nero's house?

smalti

Oh, well. The show's over now, but the History Channel will run shows on Rome all this week. Wednesday there's one on Julius Caesar and Vercingetorix.

No kidding, though, has anyone been to the Domus Aurea? Details?

Jean

Yes you can tour the Domus Aurea. Reservations are required. When we were there in 2003, a guide led our group through the rooms but only to regulate the speed we were walking while we listened to an audio guide. In other words, the guide made sure we were in the right spot to listen to the audio guide describe something. There are very few surviving surfaces (frescoes, etc.), but the complex of rooms is fascinating and the audio guide very good. Because the complex is now below the surrounding ground level, the temperature inside is very cool if not chilly.

There have been other discussions on this forum about the Domus Aurea. I'd suggest you do a search for more reports.

kybourbon

Yes, you can tour Nero's Domus Aurea. Reservations are required because all tours are escorted. It's about 1 block from the colosseum.
http://www.pierreci.it/do/show/ticket/0000000065

smalti

Thanks for the info! Now I've got to talk DH into planning a trip for Rome!

rex

I think I would like to start watching it - - is it a series?

By contrast, I think HBO's <b>ROME</b> is falling on its face. Such a marked contrast to Entourage and The Comeback - - which may be the best thing(s) on the small screen (until the Sopranos come back!)

Best wishes,

Rex

crefloors

It's a series on Rome..I think it goes all week. I watched part of it later, the last part of it and was now watching the first part of it. Very interesting and fun to see places I had been. In my area they run it twice in the evening.

smalti

Rex--It's rebroadcasting right now (1-3 AM Eastern). This, I think, is a limited series meant as a sort of companion to the HBO series (which was originally done for the BBC). At least, the first episode showed how the set design for the HBO series was based on Forum ruins and some thoroughly researched period descriptions.

This episode is more a mesh of Roman history with key engineering feats, e.g., Caesar's speedily constructed wooden bridge across the Rhine. And both episodes have featured some impressive graphic reconstructions of, say. the Baths of Caracalla or the Domus Aurea.

But History Channel is calling this &quot;Rome week,&quot; and will run various Rome-related shows every evening. I don't know whether this engineering series has more episodes.

It's too bad the HBO series isn't doing too well, as it has Ciaran Hinds and Polly Walker and David Bamber, and other British actors who are a pleasure to watch. Also, though the two lead characters and some of the plot's events are fictional, yet there's still a fair amount of real history.

As opposed to so many movies set in Rome. And then there was an appalling series a few months ago (on ABC?), with so much nonsense: Octavian can survive to become Augustus...but first he's got to FIGHT HIS WAY OUT OF A GLADIATOR CAMP!!! That sort of thing just gets my goat--it's like doing a WW II series: &quot;Hey! I know! Let's make Hitler an ASTRONAUT!&quot;

Okay. I'll go try to calm down now. Hope you get to see this series.

smalti

I missed your post before, crefloors! The engineering series runs all week? That's good to hear!

Mary_Fran

Thanks for tipping me off to the programs about Rome. I love that kind of stuff and have set my DVR to record them for me. I do love my DVR!

kybourbon

Rex - I think it's a several shows put together to make a series. Last night's show reruns on Friday and Saturday.
www.historychannel.com

sandi_travelnut

Yes, I posted it last night when it came on. It was very interesting!

swalter518

I was very interesting, especially when the only other thing on is reruns! Tonight is what caused the fall of Rome.

sandi_travelnut

It was incredible to see the amazing feats of engineering (amazing even in today's standards) and it only brought us up to the first century AD. Outstanding timeline information, very well done. As I posted last night, The History Channel is running &quot;When in Rome&quot; week with a series of different Rome-related shows.

smalti

Okay--I think I've got it straight now-- &quot;Rome: Engineering an Empire&quot; was a stand-alone 2-hr. show that ran last night and will be rebroadcast later this week. There was also a 1/2 hr. promo for this show that tied it in to the HBO series.

Since the History Channel is promoting a &quot;Rome week,&quot; more shows will be broadcast every night that are unrelated to the engineering show but that cover Roman history. For instance, on Wednesday there's a show about Julius Caesar's grinding victory over Vercingetorix, and the horrible war of attrition that led to it.

Has anyone else read, &quot;Rubicon,&quot; by Tom Holland? It covers the period during which the Roman Republic died and Empire took its place. An excellent history, I thought.

elaine

The Engineering 2-hour show will be rebroadcast later this week (either Thurs or Fri night, I forget which), and then again later that same night in the wee hours of the next morning)

Caravaggista

I second Jean's report on the Domus Aurea. It IS very chilly in there, so be sure you bring a light jacket or you won't enjoy yourself. I've toured it twice, in 1999 and again in 2004; what is sad is that the frescoes that had been conserved and restored for the Domus Aurea's reopening (in 1999--public had not been allowed in since, I believe, the 1960s) by 2004 were starting to deteriorate. A big reason for that is the carbon dioxide of people's breath. I will be shocked if they are able to keep the Domus Aurea open to the public &quot;forever.&quot; That is one reason why they only bring in a limited number of groups each day, to try and minimize damage to the paintings.

SeaUrchin

I thought last night's show was fascinating too, especially when they went in the water tunnels under the Col.

And I didn't know about the quickly made and quickly disassembled brindge until now either.

As for the HBO series, I was disappointed in the dialogue so I have only watched the first half hour of the first show. I would rather watch history on the two History channels.

smalti

Caravaggista--That was what I wondered--whether the Domus Aurea was closed for the sake of preservation. I'm no archaeologist, so I don't know about particulars like carbon dioxide damage from respiration, but it stands to reason that making the site open to public view makes it more vulnerable.

And, SeaUrchin, the episode with Caesar's Rhine bridge is covered interestingly in &quot;Rubicon.&quot; Evidently, Julius Caesar was quite the one for making extravagant gestures designed solely to be overwhelmingly impressive: When his career was just starting, he had an elaborate villa built for himself, then waited till it was finished before declaring it &quot;not grand enough&quot; and having it pulled down and built again. That time he was extravagant with his personal fortune, but the calculated gesture paid off in the awe and admiration it inspired in the public.

&quot;Rubicon&quot; goes in depth into how the ravening ambition for glory of Rome's leading citizens conflicted directly and fatally with the Roman love of liberty. It really is a worthwhile book.

kybourbon

Tonight's show Roman Vice is just starting.