Nero’s “Solar” Kingship and the Architecture of the Domus Aurea

What is it about?

We explore here symbolic aspects of the Domus Aurea, Nero’s last palace in ancient Rome, analyzing the archaeoastronomy of the best preserved part of the Domus, the Esquiline Wing. In particular, we study the so-called Octagonal Room, which, as a huge vaulted room, is a predecessor of the Pantheon. The project of the room turns out to be connected with astronomy, as is Hadrian’s Pantheon sixty years later. Indeed, the divinization and “solarization” of the emperor — placed at the equinoxes as a point of balance in the heavens — are shown to be explicitly referred to in the rigorous orientation of the plan and in the peculiar geometry of the design of the dome.

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Why is it important?

The application of archaeoastronomical methods innovatively adds to our understanding of this important example of imperial Roman architecture, which influenced later buildings.

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