When a young Roman inadvertently fell through a cleft in the Esquiline hillside at the end of the 15th century, he found himself in a strange cave or grotto filled with painted figures. Paradoxically, this ensured the wall paintings' survival by protecting them from moisture. Within 40 years, the palace was obliterated. The Baths of Trajan, and the Temple of Venus and Roma were also built on the site. On the site of the lake, in the middle of the palace grounds, Vespasian built the Flavian Amphitheatre, which could be flooded at will, with the Colossus of Nero beside it. 1 mi 2), were filled with earth and built over: the Baths of Titus were already being built on part of the site, probably the private baths, in 79 AD. Although the Oppian villa continued to be inhabited for some years, soon after Nero's death other parts of the palace and grounds, encompassing 2.6 km 2 (c. Ī symbol of decadence that caused severe embarrassment to Nero's successors, the Domus Aurea was stripped of its marble, jewels, and ivory within a decade. Įmperor Otho and possibly Titus allotted money to finish at least the structure on the Oppian Hill this continued to be inhabited, notably by emperor Vitellius in 69 but only after falling ill, until it was destroyed in a fire under Trajan in 104. Nero took great interest in every detail of the project, according to Tacitus, and oversaw the engineer-architects, Celer and Severus, who were also responsible for the attempted navigable canal with which Nero hoped to link Misenum with Lake Avernus. History Ĭonstruction began after the great fire of 64 and was nearly completed before Nero's death in 68, a remarkably short time for such an enormous project.

It replaced and extended his Domus Transitoria that he had built as his first palace complex on the site. The Domus Aurea ( Latin, 'Golden House') was a vast landscaped complex built by the Emperor Nero largely on the Oppian Hill in the heart of ancient Rome after the great fire in 64 AD had destroyed a large part of the city.

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Golden palace banquet hall