The Domus Aurea and the Roman Architectural Revolution

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by Larry F. Ball

Cambridge University Press

Due/Published October 2003, 328 pages, cloth

ISBN 0521822513

Nero's palace, the Domus Aurea (Golden House), is the most influential known building in the history of Roman architecture. It has been incompletely studied and poorly understood ever since its most important sections were excavated in the 1930s. In this book, Larry Ball provides systematic investigation of the Domus Aurea, including a comprehensive analysis of the masonry, the design, and the abundant ancient literary evidence. Highlighting the revolutionary innovations of the Domus Aurea, Ball also outlines their wide-ranging implications for the later development of Roman concrete architecture. 41 line diagrams 45 half-tones

 Contents

1. An introduction to the esquiline wing of Nero’s Domus Aurea; 2. Distantly pre-Neronian phases; 3. The pentagonal court; 4. The west block in Neronian phases 1 and 2; 5. The east block in Neronian phase 2; 6. Synthesis: three interpretive essays.