A huge statue of Nero, 120 feet high, stood in the entrance hall; and the pillared arcade ran for a whole mile. An enormous pool, more like a sea than a pool, was surrounded by buildings made to resemble cities and by a landscape garden consisting of plowed fields, vineyards, pastures and woodlands. Here every variety of domestic and wild animal roamed about. Parts of the house were overlaid with gold and studded with precious stones and mother of pearl. All the dining rooms had ceilings of fretted ivory, the panels of which could slide back and let a rain of flowers, or of perfume from hidden sprinklers, fall on his guests. The main dining room was circular, and its roof revolved slowly, day and night, in time with the sky. Sea water, or sulfur water, was always on tap in the baths.
-- Suetonius, Nero 31 1-2
If you really want to get a picture of the emperor's that we are most familiar with, you must see Nero's Golden House or (Domus Aureus) Most of what the tourist see (nothing wrong with it) is later empire architecture. The Roman forum has the palace of Caligula and the House of Livia and Augustus, but if you want to get a feel for the early empire while in downtown Rome; this is a must see. Do you know how the coliseum got it's name? It was because of a colossal statue of Nero which stood in front of the now coliseum. The Golden house is next to the coliseum and is a must see!!

Joe Geranio

Thanks, Joe,

I'm planning on visiting Nero's Golden House in Sept. I know you have to book ahead. Did you get tickets on line? Also, about how much time did you spend? Is it a guided tour?

Grazie!

You can only go through with a guided tour, which lasted about an hour. Short, but it was one of the most fascinating things we saw in Rome. We bought tickets earlier in the day, which you could easily do because there is so much sightseeing nearby. It's just down the street from the Colosseo metro stop, so you could fit it in with sightseeing of the obvious, or go to San Clemente, San Pietro in vincoli, etc., which are nearby. We found it interesting to learn that when they dug to construct the Colosseum, they piled dirt from the building site into Nero's palace, where it stayed until the early Renaissance.

Joe: You always have interesting, off the beaten track finds to share, thank you! Here is a new discovery in Rome that may interest you:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4727391.stm

I took the "Underground Rome" tour offered by Context Rome,which includes Nero's Golden Palace(domus aurea)Basilica de San Clemente, and a couple of other fascinating places.Our CR guide was able to tell us so much more than the official guide.The official tour given by the NGP guides aren't at all detailed,they just more or less usher you through and keep you moving.

>A huge statue of Nero, 120 feet high, stood in the entrance hall;...<

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....

Must have been an early Roman skyscraper...

That's what I was thinking.

If the entrance hall could accomodate a 12 story statue, how high was the bell tower?

Ira, What bell tower ?
The statue was in the open atrium or entrance hall for the Domus Aurea (Golden House).
Today this atrium is occupied by the 'Temple of Roma and Venus' and the Church of S. Francesca Romana.
But to give an idea of the statue's height, the bell tower in that church is ~60RF (Roman Feet).
The statue was actually 102.5RF or 120RF (30.3m/99.4ft or 35.5m/116.7ft) high. So it was a skyscraper .
In ~127AD it took 24 elephants to move it *upright*
and down a fairly steep incline to it's position by the Colosseum (directly across the street from the metro station).
Regards, Walter

That's why you have to visit,to experience that kind of scale. It takes your breath away. This was just a party house,too,no bedrooms.

Hi Joe, Great post. I was going to post these locations in the past but never got around to it, so I'll tack it onto your thread thread .

I have searched in the past for an artist's rendition or model of Nero's completed palace complex with no luck . And as you described it, there was *alot* more to Nero's Golden House than just the Pavilion on the Oppian Hill that we can visit today.
But there are some scant ruins in the area that were also part of the Domus Aurea.
Go to
http://www.utexas.edu/courses/romanc...nero's.jpg Below the word PALATINE part of Nero's Palace is shown. His 1st palace
was the Domus Transitoria which was burn down in the 64AD fire. This lead him to rebuild and *really expand* his palace now called the
Domus Aurea. Which Domitian completely built over in 81-92AD. In the bottom floor of the Palatine Museum you can see the foundation
stones of the Domus Aurea.
Above the 'A' in PALATINE is the Clivus Palatinus which turns left in the Via Sacra. These two streets had a large arcade lining them on both sides.
  The Via Sacra arcade started in the Roman Forum and lead up to the vestibule.
  The Clivus Palatinus arcade was from the Palace to the vestibule. Making both of them monumental walkways and part of this complex.
  Today all that remains is the concrete & rock rubble foundation of these arcades.
  You can see these long concrete ugly remains in front of the Arch of Titus and along the upper part of the Via Sacra leading to the Forum.
  In this photo you are looking into the Roman Forum (in the distance) and the Arch of Titus is just to the left but unseen in the photo. The concrete remains is that section going right to left with some white marble stones mixed in and grass growing on the top. http://www2.siba.fi/~kkoskim/rooma/pages/085_059B.HTM
  On the map see the PORTICOES. You can see their foundations (in photo below) to the right of the circular ruin which is the Meta Sudans (the others to the left and attached to the Meta Sudans where part of this fountain and not Nero's portico). This was a portico that faced the artificial lake and gardens.
http://www.sionmc.com/Rome/archconst...metasudans.jpg
See the NYMPHAEUM, it's the black bold section running along the Temple of Claudius. You can see the brick & concrete remains of this large monumental fountain along the sidewalk on Via Claudia.
And 'NERO'S NEW WING/DINING ROOMS' is the section we can visit today with reservations. Regards, Walter

I'm just glad it's finally been re-opened..it was closed for what, 20 years or more!

Now if the Orangerie in Paris ever opens!!!!!!!!!!!!

Walter Your page you gave as refernece won't open right now. But azure head of Constantine found is right up my ally!! THanks. The Domus Transitoria! You are correct on that one Walter. When I went to the Golden house it was not open and I was actually shown a way in by a guy feeding 150 cats (LOL) Talk about creepy!! The is a great book out by Bothieus on the Golden house. Imagine it (Domus Aurea) with all it's gardens and lakes and Nero laying around ating grapes and drinking wine!! That is why there is no place in the world like Rome to let the imagination run wild!!

Have fun, I am going back in March,

Multa cum amicitia
Josephus

Hi Joe, Give that link another try later, it works now.
I'm shooting for March or Febuary '06 to go back to Rome myself.
If you click-on my ParadiseLost name it will bring-up all my posts, some of them might be of interest to you.
I'm a terrible writer and a worst proofreader . And all I have done is just piece together info I have found on the net or in my books to show the history of certain sites. Of course it's usually where someone famous is killed but that's Rome .
I went out on a limb on Caligula's assassination site but I'm certain on the other emperor's sites, esp Julius Caesar's.

<<<"That is why there is no place in the world like Rome to let the imagination run wild!!">>>
Imagination: I sit in the Roman Forum and see a uninhabitable swampy marsh and it just slowly grows up from there.
Playing a movie in your mind and knowing 'who, what and where' is the only way to enjoy a pile of old rocks . Regards, Walter

Walter,

I remember getting to the Roman Forum for the first time, and already knowing where all the sites where I wanted to see. I knew it from the many books I had been over prior to my years of going there. It is the only place in the world, if you are interested that I could imagine what it was like!! Ostia Antica is another great spot, because it was not covered in ash like pompeii or Hercaleneum, but simply abandoned!! Claudius started the project at Ostia and Nero also was involved.

VALE!!