Roman Emperor Nero's legendary rotating dining room uncovered by archaeologists
Archaeologists examine a 4m diameter pillar found on the Palatine Hill in Rome, believed to have been part of the Roman emperor Nero's legendary rotating dining room. The researchers believe the pillar was part of the overall structure that supported the rotating dining room
He wrote: 'The chief banqueting room was circular, and revolved perpetually night and day in imitation of the motion of the celestial bodies.
An 18th Century print by J Blundell shows the scale of Nero's Golden Palace, which, if completed, would have spanned a third of the city of Rome
'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 rotating dining room had a diameter of more than 50ft and rested upon a 13ft-wide pillar and four spherical mechanisms that rotated the structure.
Experts believe the dining room could be up to 60m long, but have so far uncovered several supporting pillars, one 4m in diameter, as well as a perimeter wall.
Archaeologist Maria Antonietta Tomei told how it was the circular shape of the building and the stone spheres that led the team to believe they had found the rotating dining room.
The significance of the find was highlighted after the city's commissioner for archaeology, Roberto Cecchi, announced the availability of new funds to verify the 'hypothesis'.
The find was made during excavation of the Domus Aurea or 'Golden House' on the Palatine Hill - one of Ancient Rome's fabled Seven Hills.
The Palatine Hill is the centremost of the Seven Hills and is one of the most ancient parts of the city. According to Roman mythology, the Palatine Hill was the location of the cave, known as the Lupercal, where Romulus and Remus were found by the she-wolf that kept them alive.
They were the traditional founders of Rome.
Just outside the entrance stood a 120ft high bronze statue of the emperor while inside the palace grounds was an amphitheatre, a bath complex, served by an 50-miles aqueduct long.
There were also gardens, waterfalls, zoos as well as hundreds of statues.
Rooms within the palace were decorated with rare stones and mother of pearl.
After the death of Nero, Vespasian reopened the property to the public.
In 64AD two-thirds of Rome was destroyed in a great fire and Nero famously rebuilt the city after the fire in the Greek classical style, including his lavish Golden palace.
However Nero did not enjoy the frescoed halls and gold-encrusted ceilings for too long. It was completed in AD 68 - the year he committed suicide amid a revolt.
Many Romans at the time believed the fire and ensuing destruction had been a ploy for the emperor to indulge his aesthetic tastes, despite his having been at his villa in Antium, 56km away, at the time.
He blamed the Christians, then a minority sect, for the fire, and persecuted them. Early Christian tradition holds Nero responsible for the deaths of the Apostles Peter and Paul.
In the last year of his reign the Gallic and Spanish legions and his bodyguards the Praetorian Guard, rose against Nero forcing him to flee Rome. He committed suicide after the senate declared him a public enemy.
After Nero's suicide, the palace was stripped of its marble, jewels and ivory, and within a decade the site was filled in and built over.
The find was made during excavation of the Domus Aurea or 'Golden House' on the Palatine Hill - one of Ancient Rome's fabled Seven Hills. The structure was one of Nero's most extravagant projects
Within days people were letting themselves down on ropes so they could admire the frescoes that remained, among them artists Raphael and Michelangelo who carved their names on the walls.
The restoration of Nero's palace has had a troubled history and has been opened and closed several times over the last few decades as restorers and structural engineers struggle to keep the vast complex from collapsing.
Article: HERE
An unidentified man looks down in a recently unearthed brick structure incorporating a 4-meter diameter pillar, seen in the background, discovered during maintenance works in the Roman Forum, in Rome, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009. Archaeologists believe the structure supported a rotating dining room imitating the Earth's movement and used by Roman Emperor Nero to impress his guests in his Golden Palace. The Golden Palace, also known by its Latin name Domus Aurea, rose over the ruins of a fire that destroyed much of Rome in 64 A.D. and was completed in 68 A.D.
(AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
ROME – Not only was Nero a Roman emperor, it turns out he may also have been the father of the revolving restaurant. Archaeologists unveiled Tuesday what they think are the remains of Nero's extravagant banquet hall, a circular space that rotated day and night to imitate the Earth's movement and impress his guests.
The room, part of Nero's Golden Palace, a sprawling residence built in the first century A.D., is thought to have been built to entertain government officials and VIPs, said lead archaeologist Francoise Villedieu.
The emperor, known for his lavish and depraved lifestyle, was born in 37 A.D. and ruled from 54 A.D. to 68 A.D.
The dig so far has turned up the foundations of the room, the rotating mechanism underneath and part of an attached space believed to be the kitchens, she said.
"This cannot be compared to anything that we know of in ancient Roman architecture," Villedieu told reporters during a tour of the cordoned-off dig.
She said the location of the discovery atop the Palatine Hill, the rotating structure and references to it in ancient biographies of Nero make the attribution to the emperor most likely.
The partially excavated site is part of the sumptuous residence, also known by its Latin name Domus Aurea, which rose over the ruins of a fire that destroyed much of Rome in A.D. 64.
The purported main dining room, with a diameter of over 50 feet (16 meters), rested upon a 13-foot (4-meter) wide pillar and four spherical mechanisms that, likely powered by a constant flow of water, rotated the structure.
The discovery was made during routine maintenance of the fragile Palatine area, officials said.
Latin biographer and historian Suetonius, who chronicled his times and wrote the biographies of 12 Roman rulers, refers to a main dining room that revolved "day and night, in time with the sky."
Angelo Bottini, the state's top official for archaeology in Rome, said the ceiling of the rotating room might have been the one mentioned by Suetonius, who wrote of ivory panels sliding back and forth to shower flowers and perfumes on the guests below.
"The heart of every activity in ancient Rome was the banquet, together with some form of entertainment," Bottini said at the dig. "Nero was like the sun, and people were revolving around the emperor."
That part of the palace — which sprawled across nearly 200 acres (80 hectares) occupying parts of four out of Rome's seven ancient hills — offered a panoramic view over the Roman Forum and a lake, later drained by Nero's successors to build the Colosseum, Bottini said.
Described by Suetonius as one of Rome's most cruel, depraved and megalomaniac rulers, Nero often indulged in orgies and, fancying himself an artist, entertained guests with his own performances of poetry and songs.
However, Nero did not enjoy the frescoed halls and gold-encrusted ceilings of his Golden Palace for too long. It was completed in A.D. 68 — the year the unpopular emperor committed suicide amid a revolt.
Article: HERE
Well, I would beg to differ that there is not equal amongst ancient archeological finds - I think that gal needs to get around a bit more! LOL But it certainly is interesting - a vestige of a disgustingly overprivileged class of people.
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