Archaeologists in Rome have made an interesting discovery.  They think they may have unearthed the site of a Roman rotating dining room – renowned for being one of Emperor Nero’s more fantastic and extravagant architectural feats!

Reference to this rotating dining room was made by Roman historian Suetonius in “Lives of the Caesars”.  This dining room (the coenatio rotunda) was discovered amongst the ruins of the Golden Palace (Domus Aurea) on Palatine Hill in Rome.  The palace was built in the 1st century AD.  So far the dig has uncovered supporting pillars (one about 4 metres – around 12 ft) and a perimeter wall which would have been able to support a circular floor of around 50 ft in diameter.  One of the archaeologists has revealed to the press that the circular shape of the building and the stone spheres had, not unnaturally, led the team to believe they’d discovered the dining room.  There’s no doubt that if this is indeed the case it’ll certainly be a unique and exciting find.  Rome’s commissioner for archaeology has announced a new fund to delve a bit deeper, so to speak!

A Bit More Info on the Palace

According to various writings of the time, the palace wasn’t just one building, but was made up of a range of buildings.  Nero, rather than go for the bog standard lion statues at the gated entrance, instead decided to regale it with a 120 ft high bronze statue of himself!!  Once you’d found the palace – which obviously wouldn’t seem too difficult and probably wouldn’t have required Sat Nav - the grounds were fantastic.  They contained an amphitheatre, a bath complex which was filled by a 50 mile long aqueduct, waterfalls, zoos, and, of course, yet more statues!

If that wasn’t enough to take your breath away, the inside of the palace would be sure to completely gob-smack you and leave you speechless.  It was decorated with rare stones and mother-of-pearl.  Suetonius set out in more detail the delights of the palace – he would have made a great estate agent! – by saying that “all the dining rooms had ceilings of fretted ivory, the panels of which could slide back and let a rain of flowers or perfume from hidden sprinklers fall on (Nero’s) guests.  The chief banqueting room was circular and revolved perpetually night and day, in imitation of the celestial bodies”.

Quite how the rotating dining room worked is still a bit of a mystery; some think it was by the motion of canals under the room and others think it more likely that it was manually cranked by slaves but hopefully the new funding will enable the archaeologists to confirm one way or the other.

A Bit More About Nero

Nero was the son of Agrippina who, it seems, was an Elizabeth Taylor forerunner.  Her first husband, Nero’s father, died of natural causes.  She then remarried but her second husband is said to have died of ‘unnatural’ causes and it was rumoured that Agrippina had murdered him.  She then married her third husband, Emperor Claudius in AD49.  Claudius had a son, Britannicus, by a previous wife but Agrippina, presumably living up to her name and having a tight grippina over her husband, persuaded him to adopt Nero as his heir.  Once she’d managed to achieve Goal 1, she then progressed to Goal 2 – she had Claudius poisoned by mushrooms which left the way clear for Nero to inherit the Roman Empire at the age of 16. in AD54.

Although Suetonius described Nero as a fat, spotty youth of average height (things never change!), I’m sure these cons were far outweighed by the pros in his life.  Apparently he never wore the same clothes twice and didn’t make a journey unless he had at least 1,000 carriages.  Even his mules were said to have worn shoes of silver.

Nero, from a very early age had an incredibly fiery temper and, of course, once he became Emperor his temper knew no bounds.  He’d been Emperor for less than six months when he suspected his 15 year old step-brother Britannicus of plotting to usurp him so he followed his mother’s example and Britannicus endured death by fatal fungus!!  Obviously it wasn’t long before Mommy Dearest got the wind up and, in order to regain control over him following his elevation to Emperor, it’s understood she began an incestuous relationship with her son.  But, as is so often the case with mothers, she became too interfering for Nero’s liking so she had to go – he had her killed too, in AD59.  However, it seemed he’d become bored with the murderous mushrooms routine so had her stabbed instead.

The next one on the hit list was Octavia, who was Nero’s first wife.  He originally divorced her on a false charge of adultery, banished her from Rome and tortured her maids to death.  Unfortunately that still didn’t satisfy him – he’d now got a real taste for blood so he had Octavia’s head chopped off and presented as a trophy to his then mistress, Poppaea.  It seems Poppaea wasn’t at all put off by this rather unusual love token, and so she became wifey number two. 

Needless to say, poor Poppaea’s days were numbered almost as soon as she’d made eye contact with Nasty Nero.  As wives are wont to do, Poppaea, rather unwisely, complained that Nero had returned home late from the races, so he kicked his pregnant wife to death thus killing not only his wife but his unborn child.

His third wife, Messalina, was a bit of a tricky one to ‘woo’ as she was already married but he managed to co-erce her husband to commit suicide.

In 64AD the well documented Great Fire of Rome took place when around two-thirds of the city were destroyed.  Nero, never one to let the grass grow under his feet, rebuilt the city in Greek classical style and this included The Golden Palace.  It was completed in 68AD but Nutty Nero didn’t have time to rekindle his previous lewd and lavish lifestyle as his people rose against him, his Senate declared him Public Enemy Number One and eventually Nero was forced by the Senate to commit suicide that very same year.  He stabbed himself in the throat – as they say ‘he who lives by the sword, dies by the sword!’.

After his death, the palace was stripped of all it’s valuables and by 80AD the site was filled in and built over and wasn’t rediscovered until the 15th century.

And Now For the Nitty-Gritty Bitty You’ve All Been Waiting For – The Gorging, Debauchery, Sadism, Depravity, Torture and Torment of Nero’s Candlelight Suppers!

Going back once more to our dear old Suetonius, he considered Nero to be one of the most cruel and depraved Roman emperors, who thought he was one of the world’s greatest entertainers and these days probably would have been at the front of the queue for The Roman Empire’s Got Talent.  Some of the less unsavoury party pursuits were personal performances of poetry and songs.

As far as the dining went, guests would indulge in the finest food and most bizarre delicacies such as peacock, swan, stuffed sow wombs and roasted dormice.  These gluttonous guests would gorge themselves to such an extent that they frequently had to vomit to make way for more food.  They drank gallons of wine but, to give them their due, they did stop from time to time for a little exercise – but not the normal quick jog around the block – their intervals were taken up with intercourse (not of the conversational type you understand, but more your sexual type!).  Nero was known to be bisexual so he invited both male and female prostitutes to mingle with the guests to ensure everyone had a chance at exercising presumably!

One of Nero’s favourite party pastimes was to be imprisoned in a cage, dressed up in animal skins and then have young men and women tethered to posts in front of him.  He’d then ravage them, roaring like a wild animal (beats musical chairs or pass the parcel!).

Apart from the odd, rather boring, seduction and rape of boys and married women, some of the more ‘peculiar practices’ in which Nero indulged during his lifetime again were set out and documented by our good friend Suetonius. 

He stated that Nero turned a boy, Sporus, into a girl by castrating him and then went through a wedding ceremony with him.  And this was no mock-up done at Gretna Green.  It involved a dowry, a bridal veil and a full service attended by the whole of the eccentric Emperor’s court.

At his notorious dinner parties, he took Christians, had them covered in tar, tied to wooden stakes and then burnt.  Apparently, according to the horrible host, they were perfect for illuminating his magnificent gardens!

And there you have it in a nutshell!  It’ll certainly be interesting to see what the continuing archaeology brings forth and, rest assured, your ‘UK roving reporter’ or ‘nosy Norfolk news seeker’ will be looking out for updates.