New Insights into the Construction of Nero’s Domus Aurea

Abstract

The most famous Neronian buildings are undoubtedly his palace complexes. All these efforts to create a ›Neronian‹ architecture culminated in the Domus Aurea. Although ancient reports give a different impression, the Domus Aurea building project was in fact never quite finished. Still, it is plausible that an overall plan or a model of the Domus Aurea project existed, or that the courtiers gained a good impression of the intended look of the complex from the princeps’ comments about it. Because of later building activity, only a few of those structures on the site of the Domus Aurea, which »seemed like cities« (Suet. Nero 31, 1), remain. Most of what has survived belonged to the part of the Domus Aurea which was located on the side of the Oppian Hill, believed to have been the main building of the complex. At present, however, the exact dimensions of the building complex and its precise layout are not yet known. The recent investigations have clarified many details of the pre-existing buildings on the site and it is clear they were reused more extensively than was previously supposed. It is now also possible to understand the way in which the Domus was constructed with a precise analysis of how the bricks were used. The workmen started out from different points and connected them gradually as construction proceeded.