Nero’s “Solar” Kingship and the Architecture of the Domus Aurea
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The Domus Aurea, Nero’s last “palace” constructed in the very heart of ancient Rome, is a true masterpiece of Roman architecture. We explore here symbolic aspects of the emperor’s project, analyzing the archaeoastronomy of the best preserved part of the Domus, the Esquiline Wing. In particular, we study the so-called Octagonal Room, the huge vaulted room which is in many respects 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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Nero’s “Solar” Kingship and the Architecture of the Domus Aurea
In: NumenSearch for other papers by Robert Hannah in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Giulio Magli in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Antonella Palmieri in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
The Domus Aurea, Nero’s last “palace” constructed in the very heart of ancient Rome, is a true masterpiece of Roman architecture. We explore here symbolic aspects of the emperor’s project, analyzing the archaeoastronomy of the best preserved part of the Domus, the Esquiline Wing. In particular, we study the so-called Octagonal Room, the huge vaulted room which is in many respects 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.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 1131 | 204 | 25 |
| Full Text Views | 458 | 24 | 5 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 397 | 49 | 12 |