WEBVTT

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Prof: Good morning
everyone.

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Augustus founded the
Julio-Claudian dynasty.

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The name says it all:
Julio-Claudian,

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Julio for the Julian side of
the family, Julius Caesar and

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Augustus;
the Claudian for the Claudian

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side of the family.

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That was Augustus' wife
from--her side of the family,

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excuse me, the Claudian side of
the family.

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And there were four emperors in
the Julio-Claudian dynasty.

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These were Tiberius,
Caligula, Claudius,

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and Nero.

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Every one of them,
all four, made an important

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contribution to the evolution of
Roman architecture,

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and we'll talk about the
contributions of those four

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today.

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But we'll also see that the
single most important

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contribution,
from the standpoint of Roman

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architecture,
was by Nero,

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the notorious emperor Nero,
which is why I do call this

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lecture "Notorious Nero and
His Amazing Architectural

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Legacy."

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An architectural legacy that
would have been impossible

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without some of the earlier
concrete constructions that

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we've already discussed,
specifically the

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frigidaria of Pompeii and
also the thermal bath at Baia,

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which I remind you of here.

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The so-called Temple of
Mercury, we see it again with

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its dome made out of concrete
construction,

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a view from the exterior.

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And down here,
at the left,

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a view of the interior of the
monument,

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and I remind you of the way in
which is that designed so that

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light streams through the
oculus in the dome,

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down onto the sides of the
wall, creating light effects:

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a circle that corresponds to
the shape of the opening above,

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and then falling initially on
the pool of water that would

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have been located there,
as well as across the walls,

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which probably would have
been--

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that were certainly stuccoed
over--and probably would have

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been covered with mosaic.

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So a very spectacular interior
indeed,

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and one again that had an
important impact,

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as we'll see,
on the architectural designs of

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the Roman emperor Nero.

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I want to begin though with the
first of the Julio-Claudian

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emperors, and that is with
Tiberius.

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And you see a portrait of
Tiberius now on the screen,

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just to give you a sense of
what he looked like.

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Tiberius, again the son of
Livia by a former marriage,

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the elder son of Livia by a
former marriage,

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who becomes emperor of Rome
right after Augustus.

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And the portrait that you see
here is a marble portrait of

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Tiberius that is now in the Ny
Carlsberg Glyptothek in

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Copenhagen.

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Tiberius was emperor of Rome
from 14 to 37 A.D.,

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and with regard to
architecture,

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he completed projects begun by
Augustus.

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He also was responsible for
restoring Republican buildings

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that had fallen into severe
disrepair by his reign,

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and this included several
temples, a basilica,

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warehouses, and also a theater.

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Tiberius also initiated some
new building projects in Rome.

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These included a Temple to the
Divine Augustus,

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Temple to Divus
Augustus,

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his divine adoptive father,
because Augustus was made a

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god, as Caesar had been before
him,

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at his death.

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Tiberius also put up a series
of arches to his relatives,

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and also a camp for the
Praetorian Guard.

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But what we'll see about
Tiberius is that his real

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passion was not the public
architecture that Augustus had

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been so fond of--
think the Forum of Augustus and

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the Temple of Mars Ultor,
or the Ara Pacis Augustae,

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which were among Augustus' most
important building projects.

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Tiberius was interested instead
in private architecture--

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architecture in a sense for
himself and his nearest and

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dearest--
and he began a palace on the

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Palatine Hill.

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He did not think the small,
modest House of Augustus,

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despite the fact that it had
those nicely painted walls,

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he did not think that that
befit his own grandeur,

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and he began a major palace on
the Palatine Hill,

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on the northwest side of the
Palatine Hill.

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And he renovated and built
villas elsewhere,

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outside of Rome,
especially on the spectacular

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Island of Capri.

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And indeed, during the reign of
Augustus,

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and also the reign of Tiberius,
that family,

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the Augustan and Julio-Claudian
family,

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built twelve villas--count
them, twelve villas--

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on the Island of Capri,
one more spectacular than the

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next.

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It's worth mentioning,
by the way, that Augustus'

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taste, even in villas,
was somewhat more modest than

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Tiberius.

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Augustus used to decorate his
villa,

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we are told,
with dinosaur bones and things

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like that,
of historical interest,

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whereas Tiberius spared no
expense in introducing every

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luxury possible into his villas.

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With regard to the palace on
the Palatine Hill,

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the so-called Domus Tiberiana,
I just want to mention it in

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passing.

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There's very little that
survives of the substructures

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that Tiberius was responsible
for beginning,

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for that palace.

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They were made out of concrete
construction,

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and you can see here what's
called the Clivus Palatinus,

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which is a ramp way leading
from the Roman Forum,

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up to the Palatine Hill.

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And you can see some of the
remains of those substructures

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over here.

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The ones that we see were
probably restored later and may

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or may not date to the Tiberian
period,

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but they give you some idea of
the sort of construction that he

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began on the Palatine Hill.

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And I mention this just because
we'll see that Caligula and some

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of the other emperors continued
to add to this palace,

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and then the entire Palatine
Hill is redesigned by the

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emperor Domitian in the late
first century A.D.

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Much more interesting and much
more--and there's much more

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information for us to look
at--are the villas on the island

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of Capri.

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And I'm going to show you one,
the best preserved,

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from that island,
the so-called Villa Jovis:

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the Villa Jovis,
the Villa of Jupiter,

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which is an interesting name,
when you think about it,

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for a villa for the emperor
Tiberius.

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The Villa Jovis,
which was put up sometime in

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the years in which Tiberius was
emperor;

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that is, from 14 to 37 A.D.

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It's a spectacular place,
beautifully situated.

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And I'm going to take you there
today.

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Now the only way to get to the
island of Capri,

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which by the way is one of my
very favorite places in the

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world;
I don't know how many of you've

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been there, but it's quite
extraordinary--the island of

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Capri.

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You can't jet to the Island of
Capri,

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you have to arrive there by
boat, and most people take a

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boat,
unless they have a private

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yacht, but those of us who
don't,

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have to take a boat either from
Naples,

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usually a hydrofoil--although
they have larger boats as well--

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a hydrofoil from Naples or from
Positano.

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And I actually show you--this
is a view on the left-hand side

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of the screen of Positano on the
Amalfi Coast.

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You go down to the beach;
there's a place where you can

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pick up a hydrofoil.

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It takes a very short time,
half an hour or so,

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less, a little bit less,
to get over to the Island of

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Capri from Positano.

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So we're sitting on one of
those hydrofoils--

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or at least eight of us are,
because that's usually what

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they fit--
and we're making our way from

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Positano toward Capri.

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As you go there,
if the weather is good enough,

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and if the sea is calm enough,
they will take you to see the

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famous grottos,
the Green Grotto and also the

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Blue Grotto.

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And again I can just give you a
little sense here of--in this

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view--of how blue is blue.

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I mean, it's really a neon
blue, when you go to see the

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Blue Grotto.

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It's a spectacular sight and a
very special color blue that you

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really don't see anywhere else
in the world.

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So they'll drive you around in
the hydrofoil to see the

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grottos,
and then you eventually get to

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the dock at Capri,
and this is what you see as you

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get off the boat at the island
of Capri: again a very beautiful

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spot to visit.

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As you go up,
you make your way from the dock

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up to the funicular.

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You take the funicular up to
the main part of town,

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and one of the first things you
see is the popular Bar Tiberio.

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I show it to you,
not to--it's a fun place to

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go--
but I show it to you mainly

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because it's one of these
examples of the way in which the

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Roman emperors have had a
lasting impact,

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even today, that so many of
these bars and restaurants and

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so on are named for Rome's
emperors,

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or for some of the monuments
that we've been studying in the

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course of this semester.

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And this bar is no exception,
and in fact if you go through

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the doors that lead into the
interior of the bar,

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you will see a portrait of
Tiberius etched on the doorway.

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So Tiberius very much lives and
thrives in the center of

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downtown Capri still today.

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What most tourists go to Capri
to see,

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besides just to walk around a
magnificent island and to test

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out some of the beaches,
which tend to be on the rocky

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side,
is to see the most famous rocks

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of Capri.

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And these are the so-called
Faraglioni.

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You see them here.

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You go up to the so-called
Gardens of Augustus,

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and then up to a spot where you
can see these particularly well.

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They're magnificent.

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They are the landmark spot on
the island of Capri,

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and they have survived coastal
landslides and sea erosion,

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to look as wonderful as they
still do today.

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And this is,
of course, the photo op on the

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island.

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I don't think there's anyone
who visits Capri who doesn't

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take a photo or have a photo
taken of themselves at the

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Faraglioni.

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The villa that I want to show
you is again the best preserved

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villa of Tiberius on Capri.

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And again I mentioned that it's
called the Villa Jovis,

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and it dates to 14 to 37 A.D.

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It's a trek to get up there.

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You have to walk essentially.

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The streets are such that there
are no cabs or cars that can get

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you there.

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You have to make it on your own.

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And there are two paths.

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I've made the mistake of taking
the more arduous path,

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which looks like this,
to get up to the top,

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but there's another path also
that takes you by some very

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attractive houses and villas,
which are fun to see.

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And you will see the largest
lemons--

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has anyone ever been on the
island of Capri?--

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you'll see the largest lemons
on Capri,

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as well as on the Amalfi Coast
in general,

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that you've ever seen anywhere:
gigantic lemons on lemon trees,

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as you make your way up to the
Villa of the Villa Jovis.

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Now here is a plan of the Villa
Jovis, as well as a

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cross-section,
from the Ward-Perkins textbook.

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And if we look first at the
cross-section,

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at the uppermost part of the
screen, you will see the way

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this building was made.

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You will see that the
architects have taken advantage

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of developments in concrete
construction to create a series

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of barrel vaults in tiers,
and those barrel vaults in

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tiers are where--
are the cisterns of the villa,

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where the water was kept to
supply the baths and the kitchen

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and so on,
of the villa.

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You see those there,
and in this plan down here you

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can see the cisterns again and
the way in which a pavement has

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been placed on top of those
tiers of barrel vaults,

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to create a very large court
here.

12:18.778 --> 12:23.948
The entranceway into Tiberius'
villa on Capri was over here.

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You can see a series of
columns, four in total,

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that you see as you make your
way into the entranceway of the

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villa.

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Along this side of the villa,
which is the southern side of

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the villa,
you see the baths--not

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surprisingly placed on the
southern side--

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extensive bath structure for
the emperor.

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On the western side you see a
series of rooms that are for the

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entourage of Tiberius.

12:55.009 --> 12:58.209
The kitchen is located on this
side as well.

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And then perhaps the most
important room of the house,

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from our standpoint,
the hall or the aula--

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a-u-l-a--the aula of
Tiberius' villa at Capri.

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And you can see the shape of
that aula.

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It's a kind of hemicycle with
large picture windows that allow

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views that lie outside.

13:18.820 --> 13:22.110
And it should remind you of the
second phase of the Villa of the

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Mysteries in Pompeii,
where we also saw that

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attractive bay window with the
panoramic views,

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out beyond.

13:29.870 --> 13:33.930
The panoramic views were much
more spectacular here than even

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from the Villa of the Mysteries,
because as I think you can see

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also from this site plan,
that this is located right at

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the edge of a promontory.

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It's in fact 1,095 feet above
sea level, and you get some

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incredible views of the sea and
of other islands from this

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location.

13:58.100 --> 14:01.060
On this side,
the northern side of the

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structure, is where the
apartments of Tiberius were

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located;
a series of rooms for the

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emperor himself,
and including also an imperial

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loggia,
where he could walk out and get

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some attractive panoramas
privately on his own.

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You can also see that there is
a corridor that leads from the

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private apartment to this very
long walkway,

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that is located right at the
edge of the cliff on this side.

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This is called technically an
ambulatio

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--a-m-b-u-l-a-t-i-o,
an ambulatio--and it was

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just for that.

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It was for taking pleasant
walks, getting nice views of the

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sea from there,
especially for the emperor and

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special invited guests.

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And right in the center was a
triclinium--

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you see it right here--a
triclinium or dining room

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where the emperor could dine and
could look out again over views

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that were possible from this
particular locale.

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This is a view unfortunately in
black and white,

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but it's the only one that I
have that gives you a sense of

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the remains today from above,
the extent of those remains.

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And you can see again the
concrete construction I think

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quite well from this,
as well as the fact that

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although all the foundation
walls are there,

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there's no decoration,
the ceilings are missing,

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and so on and so forth.

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You see the cistern here,
the location of the aula

15:31.043 --> 15:34.743
up here, the area for the
entourage of Tiberius,

15:34.738 --> 15:38.118
and the private apartment on
that side.

15:38.120 --> 15:41.410
A church and a statue on a base
were added later,

15:41.413 --> 15:44.713
and so of course you need to
think those away.

15:44.710 --> 15:48.070
This is a view of some of the
remains as they look today,

15:48.070 --> 15:51.550
just to give you a sense that
when you're actually up there

15:51.548 --> 15:53.048
and wandering around.

15:53.048 --> 15:57.218
The walls don't go up all that
far,

15:57.220 --> 16:03.300
but you can also see that they
do preserve the entire plan of

16:03.304 --> 16:06.094
the structure,
which is why we have such a

16:06.086 --> 16:08.386
good idea of what it looked like
in antiquity and how all of

16:08.394 --> 16:09.534
those pieces fit together.

16:09.528 --> 16:13.538
You can see that the
construction is concrete and the

16:13.543 --> 16:16.253
facing is stone,
irregular stonework,

16:16.246 --> 16:19.146
the kind of opus
incertum work that we've

16:19.153 --> 16:21.013
seen elsewhere in Campania.

16:21.009 --> 16:23.959
Because remember this is an
island, but it's off the coast

16:23.960 --> 16:28.210
of Naples, Pompeii and Oplontis;
it is in that same general area

16:28.206 --> 16:29.006
of Italy.

16:29.009 --> 16:32.749
And this is one view and one--I
have many more spectacular ones

16:32.745 --> 16:35.445
than this one--
but this is one that gives you

16:35.452 --> 16:37.812
a sense of the sort of thing you
can see.

16:37.808 --> 16:40.298
This one I took right from,
I think from near the

16:40.302 --> 16:43.312
aula;
just to give you an idea of

16:43.308 --> 16:45.418
what you see from there.

16:45.419 --> 16:46.959
Beautiful views of the sea.

16:46.960 --> 16:51.070
In some areas you can see the
rocky outcroppings as you look

16:51.072 --> 16:54.842
down, and then views of some
other islands in the area,

16:54.839 --> 16:57.209
for example Ischia,
and so on.

16:57.210 --> 17:04.790
The successor to Tiberius was a
man by the name of Caligula.

17:04.788 --> 17:11.118
Caligula became emperor at the
death of Tiberius.

17:11.118 --> 17:14.638
And we see a portrait of him
here, on the right-hand side of

17:14.644 --> 17:17.994
the screen, just again to give
you a sense of the man.

17:17.990 --> 17:20.660
He had a very short--he was
very young when he became

17:20.662 --> 17:23.902
emperor of Rome--he had a very
short reign, only three years.

17:23.900 --> 17:27.810
And he was somewhat unbalanced,
and it was not long after he

17:27.813 --> 17:31.133
became emperor--oh,
by the way, he was very popular

17:31.130 --> 17:34.690
when he was a boy;
he was a prince, very popular.

17:34.690 --> 17:37.770
He used to run around the
military camps with his family,

17:37.769 --> 17:41.439
in a little military costume,
and he wore these distinctive

17:41.444 --> 17:44.174
military boots called the
caliga,

17:44.170 --> 17:47.230
c-a-l-i-g-a;
which is how he got the

17:47.230 --> 17:50.000
nickname Caligula,
from those boots.

17:50.000 --> 17:52.730
He was extremely popular with
everyone, and everyone was quite

17:52.732 --> 17:54.572
excited when he became emperor
of Rome.

17:54.569 --> 17:58.039
But his power went to his head.

17:58.038 --> 18:00.318
He became a despot,
and he spent most of his time

18:00.324 --> 18:01.994
cavorting with his three
sisters.

18:01.990 --> 18:07.200
I show you them here on a coin,
and they're all named:

18:07.201 --> 18:10.301
Agrippina,
Julia, and--Drusilla was his

18:10.303 --> 18:12.033
favorite,
so of course she's in the

18:12.026 --> 18:13.726
center there--
Drusilla.

18:13.730 --> 18:18.450
And he also did strange things
like conduct faux wars

18:18.452 --> 18:23.272
essentially, faux wars with faux
enemies: for example,

18:23.266 --> 18:26.986
his war against Britain,
so to speak.

18:26.990 --> 18:31.710
And he also spent a good deal
of time trying to work it out so

18:31.708 --> 18:34.798
that his horse,
Incitatus, could become a

18:34.800 --> 18:35.730
senator.

18:35.730 --> 18:39.100
So this gives you some idea of
the kind of man we're dealing

18:39.095 --> 18:39.775
with here.

18:39.779 --> 18:42.479
He was occupied with all of
that and really not that much

18:42.483 --> 18:43.453
with architecture.

18:43.450 --> 18:46.020
And again, he was only emperor
for a very short time,

18:46.018 --> 18:48.488
so there was a limit to what
kinds of architectural

18:48.489 --> 18:50.069
contributions he could make.

18:50.069 --> 18:51.629
But he didn't make none.

18:51.630 --> 18:54.260
I mean, he made some,
and in fact one of them is

18:54.257 --> 18:57.157
particularly important,
and I want to emphasize those

18:57.164 --> 18:58.064
to you here.

18:58.058 --> 19:02.728
So again, Caligula was emperor
between 37 and 41 A.D.

19:02.730 --> 19:04.830
He had little public building.

19:04.828 --> 19:08.228
Again, he continued the
tradition of Tiberius,

19:08.226 --> 19:12.446
and that is in having much more
interest in private villa

19:12.452 --> 19:15.852
architecture than in public
architecture.

19:15.848 --> 19:19.798
But again it's only fair--as we
judge him in terms of his

19:19.796 --> 19:23.006
architectural contribution,
I think it's only fair to

19:23.007 --> 19:25.457
remind ourselves that again he
was only emperor for three

19:25.463 --> 19:25.863
years.

19:25.858 --> 19:29.518
If he had been emperor longer,
perhaps his contribution would

19:29.519 --> 19:30.739
have been greater.

19:30.740 --> 19:34.200
He did finish several
buildings, begun by Tiberius--

19:34.200 --> 19:35.670
and we're going to see this as
a pattern,

19:35.670 --> 19:39.350
that is, emperors coming to the
fore and completing buildings by

19:39.345 --> 19:40.565
their predecessors.

19:40.568 --> 19:45.098
And he did build a couple of
new things, including two new

19:45.096 --> 19:50.096
aqueducts and a circus located
near what is now Vatican City.

19:50.098 --> 19:54.008
He thought the Domus Tiberiana
was a terrific idea and

19:54.010 --> 19:56.890
consequently he added to that
palace;

19:56.890 --> 20:00.650
that's the palace that Tiberius
began on the slopes of the

20:00.653 --> 20:01.713
Palatine Hill.

20:01.710 --> 20:05.090
But his main interest was
villas outside Rome.

20:05.089 --> 20:06.669
He built a number of those.

20:06.670 --> 20:09.260
I'm not talking about Capri
now, those were already built,

20:09.259 --> 20:12.279
and he could go down and enjoy
those as emperor of Rome,

20:12.278 --> 20:15.758
but he wanted to ring Rome with
a series of villas,

20:15.759 --> 20:17.399
and he began that work.

20:17.400 --> 20:20.090
And later on,
according to Pliny the Elder,

20:20.086 --> 20:23.476
Rome was ringed with the
villas, not only of Caligula,

20:23.476 --> 20:24.816
but also of Nero.

20:24.818 --> 20:29.318
So these were going up apace
around the city of Rome itself.

20:29.318 --> 20:32.878
The single most important
contribution though that

20:32.883 --> 20:36.163
Caligula made,
and it is very significant,

20:36.161 --> 20:38.631
is to alter--
it was during his reign,

20:38.630 --> 20:42.100
during his brief reign,
that the recipe for Roman

20:42.098 --> 20:44.898
concrete construction was
altered.

20:44.900 --> 20:50.230
What they did was make the
decision to lighten it up,

20:50.230 --> 20:53.860
and they did that by taking the
stone rubble that had been used

20:53.862 --> 20:56.442
in the mixture of concrete for
some time,

20:56.440 --> 21:00.010
taking that stone rubble and
dispensing with it,

21:00.009 --> 21:02.319
getting rid of it,
because it was too heavy,

21:02.318 --> 21:06.298
and mixed the liquid mortar
instead with a very porous,

21:06.298 --> 21:09.528
yellow tufa,
and also with pumice,

21:09.528 --> 21:14.028
which is a soft light stone
resembling cork.

21:14.028 --> 21:17.648
So when you think of replacing
heavy rubble with something that

21:17.648 --> 21:20.278
resembles cork,
you get the sense that that is

21:20.276 --> 21:23.926
going to lead to lighter domes;
lighter domes are going to lead

21:23.932 --> 21:26.382
to domes that are able to span
greater spaces.

21:26.380 --> 21:28.520
So this is no small
accomplishment.

21:28.519 --> 21:30.869
This is very, very significant.

21:30.868 --> 21:33.488
It happens during the reign of
Caligula,

21:33.490 --> 21:37.220
and we'll see already today
that the so-called Golden House

21:37.224 --> 21:40.684
or Domus Aurea of Nero,
would not have been possible,

21:40.680 --> 21:44.490
the span of that dome would not
have been possible without this

21:44.488 --> 21:48.478
change in the recipe in concrete
that happened under Caligula.

21:48.480 --> 21:51.540
The other development under
Caligula that I want to make

21:51.535 --> 21:54.975
reference to really has more to
do with religious practice,

21:54.980 --> 21:59.640
but it also has an important
impact on architecture,

21:59.640 --> 22:05.010
and that is the impact of
mystery cults on Roman religion.

22:05.009 --> 22:07.379
I think I've mentioned to you
already that the Romans

22:07.375 --> 22:10.355
practiced a state religion,
and that state religion was

22:10.355 --> 22:13.705
considered the religion that
everyone should adhere to.

22:13.710 --> 22:16.440
But over time,
because of Rome's connections

22:16.443 --> 22:21.273
to other parts of the empire,
especially the Eastern Empire,

22:21.265 --> 22:25.625
a whole host of different kinds
of religions,

22:25.630 --> 22:27.820
mystery religions,
exotic religions,

22:27.819 --> 22:30.279
began to infiltrate Rome.

22:30.278 --> 22:33.458
They came back through the
army, they came back through

22:33.461 --> 22:34.641
commerce, to Rome.

22:34.640 --> 22:36.760
And initially they were not
accepted.

22:36.759 --> 22:41.299
You were not allowed to
practice these openly.

22:41.298 --> 22:44.948
And so we saw an example with
the Villa of the Mysteries where

22:44.948 --> 22:47.878
the woman of the house created a
special room,

22:47.880 --> 22:52.570
room number five,
for the celebration of the cult

22:52.573 --> 22:55.663
of Dionysus,
because that was considered a

22:55.661 --> 22:58.011
secret religion at that
particular point.

22:58.009 --> 23:00.979
But these mystery religions,
Caligula himself showed some

23:00.979 --> 23:03.519
interest in them,
and it began to look as if

23:03.517 --> 23:06.357
perhaps they would be able to
begin to come up from

23:06.356 --> 23:07.206
underground.

23:07.210 --> 23:10.940
They didn't during his reign,
but I think again his

23:10.938 --> 23:14.888
contribution in that way was
also an important one.

23:14.890 --> 23:17.180
They did continue to have to
meet in secret.

23:17.180 --> 23:20.870
And one sect in particular I
want to make reference to today,

23:20.868 --> 23:23.608
the so-called Neo-Pythagorean
sect,

23:23.608 --> 23:28.418
because we'll see in the next
monument that I want to show

23:28.419 --> 23:30.729
you,
that it was that sect that was

23:30.733 --> 23:34.413
celebrated in a very interesting
underground basilica that I want

23:34.413 --> 23:35.453
to turn to now.

23:35.450 --> 23:37.760
It doesn't date to the time of
Caligula;

23:37.759 --> 23:40.779
in fact, it's a little bit
later, in the reign of Claudius.

23:40.779 --> 23:42.579
But I want to show it to you
here,

23:42.578 --> 23:47.098
because again it was Caligula's
beginning to be more accepting

23:47.095 --> 23:50.715
of these kinds of things that
led in part to their

23:50.722 --> 23:54.262
proliferation,
initially underground and then

23:54.263 --> 23:55.833
above ground as well.

23:55.828 --> 23:57.868
This is the so-called
Underground Basilica,

23:57.869 --> 23:59.619
because it is located
underground.

23:59.619 --> 24:03.029
It dates to around A.D. 50.

24:03.028 --> 24:07.258
And you can see from this site
plan its location.

24:07.259 --> 24:09.479
You can see it marked
"basilica"

24:09.480 --> 24:11.750
up there,
and you can see that it's near

24:11.752 --> 24:13.812
a street we've already talked
about,

24:13.808 --> 24:17.858
the Via Praenestina in Rome,
which you'll remember is one,

24:17.858 --> 24:21.078
along with the Via Labicana,
that came and converged on the

24:21.077 --> 24:23.737
Tomb of the Baker that we looked
at last time.

24:23.740 --> 24:26.560
In fact, if you look at this
site plan, you see the

24:26.563 --> 24:29.673
trapezoidal plan of the Tomb of
the Baker right here.

24:29.670 --> 24:31.920
And when we discussed the Tomb
of the Baker,

24:31.920 --> 24:34.420
I made the point to you that it
was located,

24:34.420 --> 24:36.640
or it was sited,
in front of a great gate,

24:36.640 --> 24:42.050
the so-called Porta Maggiore,
or the great gate that spanned

24:42.051 --> 24:43.521
two aqueducts.

24:43.519 --> 24:46.979
And I said to you,
I urged you to think away that

24:46.982 --> 24:49.872
great gate because it was built
later.

24:49.868 --> 24:51.378
It was built,
in fact, during the reign of

24:51.375 --> 24:51.775
Claudius.

24:51.779 --> 24:53.929
We're going to look at it
momentarily.

24:53.930 --> 24:58.270
So you see the great gate here,
and you see the Tomb of the

24:58.267 --> 25:01.167
Baker,
and that gives you a sense of

25:01.173 --> 25:06.103
the location of the basilica,
the Underground Basilica of 50

25:06.096 --> 25:06.516
A.D.

25:06.519 --> 25:09.829
If you look at that basilica,
you see the plan is exactly

25:09.826 --> 25:12.186
like the basilica in a civic
context--

25:12.190 --> 25:14.210
the basilica at Pompeii,
for example--

25:14.210 --> 25:17.680
with a central nave and two
side aisles,

25:17.680 --> 25:21.700
divided by that nave,
that central space,

25:21.700 --> 25:25.710
through architectural members,
in this case through piers

25:25.712 --> 25:28.822
rather than columns;
and then at the end,

25:28.818 --> 25:32.798
to give some emphasis to one
short side of the space,

25:32.796 --> 25:35.546
an apse, that you also see
there.

25:35.548 --> 25:39.638
This underground basilica was
used for religious worship.

25:39.640 --> 25:42.490
So we see once again what I've
referred to as the

25:42.489 --> 25:45.869
interchangeability of form:
the idea of creating a certain

25:45.873 --> 25:48.133
building plan for a civic
center,

25:48.130 --> 25:51.910
the law court or basilica,
and then using it in other

25:51.911 --> 25:52.421
ways.

25:52.420 --> 25:56.070
We already saw the basilican
plan being used in house design

25:56.074 --> 25:58.494
at Herculaneum as a banqueting
hall,

25:58.490 --> 26:03.400
and here we see it as a
religious, a place for religious

26:03.403 --> 26:07.963
worship underground:
a basilican form being used for

26:07.961 --> 26:11.001
religious worship underground.

26:11.000 --> 26:15.160
The Underground Basilica is
miraculously preserved.

26:15.160 --> 26:18.050
Why?

26:18.048 --> 26:21.428
Because it's underground and it
didn't--it consequently was kept

26:21.426 --> 26:23.086
in very good shape over time.

26:23.088 --> 26:26.308
It's very difficult to get
permission to go down and see

26:26.305 --> 26:29.395
it, but it is a marvel,
as you can see from this image

26:29.403 --> 26:29.933
here.

26:29.930 --> 26:33.620
How did they create this
Underground Basilica?

26:33.618 --> 26:35.858
How did they make this building
underground?

26:35.858 --> 26:42.028
Well they cut trenches in the
tufa rock, in the tufa rock;

26:42.029 --> 26:45.549
remember we've talked about how
ubiquitous tufa rock was in

26:45.551 --> 26:48.351
Rome, both on the hillsides,
like the Palatine,

26:48.346 --> 26:49.436
and elsewhere.

26:49.440 --> 26:52.010
So they cut trenches in the
tufa rock,

26:52.009 --> 26:57.149
and then they poured concrete
into those trenches to create

26:57.148 --> 27:02.818
the walls and also the barrel
vault that you see so well here.

27:02.818 --> 27:07.528
And once that concrete had
dried, they cut it out in such a

27:07.525 --> 27:12.465
way as to create the piers that
you also see very well in this

27:12.473 --> 27:13.613
structure.

27:13.608 --> 27:16.008
So we're looking at that
central space;

27:16.009 --> 27:20.039
we're looking at the piers,
the arches above those piers,

27:20.038 --> 27:23.588
and then that's supporting a
barrel vaulting ceiling,

27:23.588 --> 27:27.848
as well as a semi-vault in the
apse of this structure.

27:27.848 --> 27:32.078
Another view gives you a sense
of the relationship of the

27:32.082 --> 27:34.352
central space to the aisles.

27:34.348 --> 27:37.408
It's a fairly small structure
but nonetheless it is quite

27:37.406 --> 27:40.086
light and airy,
as I think you can see here,

27:40.090 --> 27:43.370
as we look from the central
nave toward one of the side

27:43.372 --> 27:43.982
aisles.

27:43.980 --> 27:46.600
You can see the piers and the
arches above those piers,

27:46.596 --> 27:49.696
and you can also see the way in
which the walls are decorated.

27:49.700 --> 27:53.430
They're made out of concrete
but they're stuccoed over and

27:53.434 --> 27:57.434
divided into a series of panels
that are decorated with pretty

27:57.432 --> 27:59.992
strong resemblance to Third
Style,

27:59.990 --> 28:03.640
and that resemblance becomes
even clearer as we look up to

28:03.636 --> 28:04.786
the vault above.

28:04.788 --> 28:11.308
This is how we surmise that
this building was put up to the

28:11.310 --> 28:15.160
Neo-Pythagorean cult,
because of the figures that we

28:15.159 --> 28:16.729
see floating in the central
panels here.

28:16.730 --> 28:19.640
Those who have a good
understanding of the

28:19.641 --> 28:23.261
Neo-Pythagorean cult have
suggested that these track

28:23.262 --> 28:27.172
extremely well the beliefs of
this particular cult.

28:27.170 --> 28:30.180
But interesting for us is again
the close resemblance of this to

28:30.176 --> 28:31.796
Third Style Roman wall painting.

28:31.799 --> 28:33.119
It's done in stucco.

28:33.118 --> 28:35.888
The stucco is painted,
but you can see it's divided

28:35.892 --> 28:39.332
into a series of panels with
floating mythological figures,

28:39.328 --> 28:42.048
or floating religious figures
in this case,

28:42.049 --> 28:43.819
inside the panels.

28:43.818 --> 28:48.138
And look then very carefully at
some of the floral decorations,

28:48.140 --> 28:52.200
which you will see also
resemble very closely the flimsy

28:52.198 --> 28:56.478
candelabra and so on that are
characteristic of Third Style

28:56.478 --> 28:57.878
Roman painting.

28:57.880 --> 28:58.900
This shouldn't surprise you.

28:58.900 --> 29:00.080
The date of 50 A.D.

29:00.078 --> 29:01.968
is still well within the Third
Style.

29:01.970 --> 29:04.570
We've talked about the very
long life of the Third Style,

29:04.568 --> 29:07.468
that it was used already in the
late first century B.C.,

29:07.470 --> 29:12.450
but that it didn't really go
out until about 62 A.D.

29:12.450 --> 29:15.500
So 50 was still in that period
of the Third Style;

29:15.500 --> 29:19.540
it doesn't surprise us to see
decoration like this,

29:19.535 --> 29:23.405
in this very interesting
Underground Basilica.

29:23.410 --> 29:30.540
Caligula was murdered in 41,
and his wife and daughter--he

29:30.537 --> 29:37.537
had one daughter--were also
murdered at the same time.

29:37.538 --> 29:41.358
He had no family member to
succeed him, and his uncle

29:41.357 --> 29:45.027
Claudius was chosen as the next
emperor of Rome.

29:45.029 --> 29:48.139
Many of you may know the
interesting story,

29:48.137 --> 29:52.057
quite captivating story,
of how Claudius was chosen as

29:52.060 --> 29:52.950
emperor.

29:52.950 --> 29:55.530
He was someone who was not
highly respected by his

29:55.527 --> 29:58.207
family--and I'll say more about
that in a moment;

29:58.210 --> 30:00.370
no one ever thought he was
going to amount to anything.

30:00.368 --> 30:04.068
And when, after Caligula's
death, Claudius was such,

30:04.070 --> 30:07.410
kind of timid,
that he hid behind a curtain.

30:07.410 --> 30:10.810
But as the Praetorian Guard
wandered through the palace,

30:10.808 --> 30:13.968
trying to figure out who in the
world they were going to appoint

30:13.972 --> 30:17.072
as Caligula's successor,
they saw a pair of feet

30:17.071 --> 30:18.741
underneath a curtain.

30:18.740 --> 30:21.050
They pulled open that curtain
and they saw Claudius,

30:21.054 --> 30:23.194
and they thought,
"Well he's going to be no

30:23.186 --> 30:24.046
trouble at all.

30:24.049 --> 30:25.299
No one thinks much of him.

30:25.298 --> 30:28.308
We're going to be able to get
everything we want if we appoint

30:28.307 --> 30:29.687
Claudius as emperor."

30:29.690 --> 30:31.300
And so they did,
they bowed down,

30:31.296 --> 30:32.896
and they said,
"You are now--",

30:32.900 --> 30:34.090
or they put him up on their
shoulders,

30:34.088 --> 30:36.308
"You are now emperor of
Rome."

30:36.308 --> 30:39.668
Well Claudius surprised them
because he was a very smart

30:39.669 --> 30:41.929
individual indeed,
as we shall see.

30:41.930 --> 30:44.860
This is a cameo,
a famous cameo that represents

30:44.864 --> 30:46.834
Claudius,
just for you to get some sense

30:46.828 --> 30:49.088
of what he looked like,
over here on the left,

30:49.086 --> 30:51.496
with his wife,
and then possibly--these two

30:51.497 --> 30:53.527
figures over here are
controversial--

30:53.529 --> 30:57.869
possibly with Tiberius or some
other member of the imperial

30:57.866 --> 30:58.536
family.

30:58.538 --> 31:02.028
This is blown up into colossal
size.

31:02.028 --> 31:04.768
It's a fairly small but very
beautiful cameo,

31:04.772 --> 31:08.452
and these cameos were used as
presentation pieces in ancient

31:08.451 --> 31:09.451
Roman times.

31:09.450 --> 31:13.140
Claudius was emperor of Rome
between A.D.

31:13.142 --> 31:14.252
41 and 54.

31:14.250 --> 31:18.790
I mentioned that his family did
not have much respect for him.

31:18.788 --> 31:23.888
They thought he was weak and
sickly, and they thought he was

31:23.885 --> 31:25.005
dim-witted.

31:25.009 --> 31:27.119
And the only reason they
thought he was dim-witted,

31:27.123 --> 31:29.453
because the poor fellow
stammered, and they thought that

31:29.446 --> 31:31.176
that reflected an undisciplined
mind.

31:31.180 --> 31:34.740
Not at all, he was very,
very intelligent indeed,

31:34.740 --> 31:36.520
and he surprised them.

31:36.519 --> 31:39.749
He surprised not only the
Praetorian Guard but also his

31:39.747 --> 31:41.717
family, when he became emperor.

31:41.720 --> 31:45.380
He turned out to be a unique
individual with a predilection,

31:45.380 --> 31:49.490
as we shall see,
for an entirely new kind of,

31:49.490 --> 31:52.660
and very distinctive form of
architecture,

31:52.660 --> 31:57.060
and one that I believe--and
I'll try to make the case to you

31:57.057 --> 32:00.507
today--
reflected his very distinctive

32:00.509 --> 32:01.529
intellect.

32:01.528 --> 32:05.208
We need to know therefore
something about him and how he

32:05.208 --> 32:09.418
came--how he had trained himself
intellectually before he became

32:09.422 --> 32:10.762
emperor of Rome.

32:10.759 --> 32:13.619
He was fifty-years-old when he
became emperor.

32:13.618 --> 32:16.858
He had been,
in the years prior to that,

32:16.856 --> 32:20.086
a scholar, an historian,
an antiquarian,

32:20.094 --> 32:21.344
a linguist.

32:21.338 --> 32:24.608
He wrote a history of Rome by
himself--it was not

32:24.608 --> 32:27.468
ghostwritten--and he wrote
several volumes,

32:27.471 --> 32:30.061
also on his own,
on the Etruscans;

32:30.058 --> 32:32.868
he was particularly interested
in the Etruscans.

32:32.868 --> 32:36.608
We know he added a few letters
to the Latin alphabet to give it

32:36.605 --> 32:39.315
more range,
and he was the last Roman,

32:39.319 --> 32:43.159
as far as we know,
to be able to read and also

32:43.157 --> 32:44.577
write Etruscan.

32:44.578 --> 32:47.148
This gives you a very good
sense of the man.

32:47.150 --> 32:51.520
With regard to architecture,
he rejected categorically the

32:51.523 --> 32:56.133
interests of Tiberius and
Caligula in villa architecture,

32:56.130 --> 32:58.960
and he returned to the
construction of public

32:58.960 --> 33:01.700
architecture--
he looked to Augustus as a

33:01.701 --> 33:08.111
model for this--
and especially to public works.

33:08.109 --> 33:09.429
Let me show you one example.

33:09.430 --> 33:16.000
You see on the screen a site
plan of the port of Rome.

33:16.000 --> 33:19.410
I've already mentioned the fact
that the port of Rome was

33:19.410 --> 33:22.270
located at Ostia,
Ostia the city at the mouth of

33:22.271 --> 33:23.491
the Tiber River.

33:23.490 --> 33:27.540
We saw the plan of Ostia,
a colony already founded in the

33:27.544 --> 33:30.394
mid-fourth century B.C.,
in around 350,

33:30.390 --> 33:33.760
and it grew over time and it
had its efflorescence,

33:33.759 --> 33:36.799
as we'll see in a later
lecture, in the second century

33:36.796 --> 33:37.136
A.D.

33:37.140 --> 33:41.220
Here the plan of Ostia over
here.

33:41.220 --> 33:44.050
The Tiber River,
and then at the mouth of the

33:44.046 --> 33:46.946
Tiber River,
at a place that we call Portus,

33:46.950 --> 33:49.580
a location that we call Portus
or Porto--

33:49.578 --> 33:54.168
it's on the Monument List for
you--the actual harbor itself.

33:54.170 --> 33:57.660
What we're looking at above is
a coin of the emperor Nero.

33:57.660 --> 34:01.830
You see Nero on the obverse and
on the reverse a representation

34:01.832 --> 34:05.132
of what we think is the port
built by Claudius.

34:05.130 --> 34:09.270
We have a description of the
port of Claudius by Suetonius in

34:09.268 --> 34:10.578
his Lives.

34:10.579 --> 34:16.629
Suetonius tells us that the
port had curving breakwaters,

34:16.632 --> 34:19.012
curving breakwaters.

34:19.010 --> 34:23.320
And if we look at this coin of
Nero that was struck by the

34:23.324 --> 34:28.324
emperor between 64 and 68 A.D.,
we see on the back what is

34:28.324 --> 34:34.014
clearly a port,
with curving breakwaters.

34:34.010 --> 34:38.090
So we believe that this must be
a depiction of the port built by

34:38.094 --> 34:40.884
Claudius sometime during his
reign, that is,

34:40.882 --> 34:42.312
between 41 and 54.

34:42.309 --> 34:47.689
What does that coin tell us
about what that port must have

34:47.688 --> 34:49.008
looked like?

34:49.010 --> 34:50.550
We can see that there is a
large statue in the upper

34:50.547 --> 34:50.817
center.

34:50.820 --> 34:54.870
There is a river god reclining
below, probably the Tiber

34:54.871 --> 34:59.141
himself, to locate this port,
and also a series of boats in

34:59.143 --> 35:00.253
the center.

35:00.250 --> 35:03.300
But most important again are
the curving breakwaters,

35:03.300 --> 35:06.530
which you can see are made up
of a series of columns;

35:06.530 --> 35:09.970
they look like colonnades,
one on either side,

35:09.972 --> 35:11.582
curving colonnades.

35:11.579 --> 35:16.619
This plan down here shows us
the likely plan of the Claudian

35:16.615 --> 35:18.735
harbor,
roughly circular,

35:18.742 --> 35:21.742
again with breakwaters on
either side,

35:21.739 --> 35:23.979
with columns on either side.

35:23.980 --> 35:27.340
This area was added to by the
emperor Trajan,

35:27.342 --> 35:29.942
in the early second century
A.D.

35:29.940 --> 35:36.180
He added a five-sided port as
well, and you can see that here,

35:36.184 --> 35:38.544
in this plan as well.

35:38.539 --> 35:39.829
But think that away for now.

35:39.829 --> 35:43.199
All that would've been there
was Claudius' port with the

35:43.201 --> 35:44.551
curving breakwaters.

35:44.550 --> 35:48.890
This is a painting of both of
those ports, that's on the wall

35:48.889 --> 35:50.119
in the Vatican.

35:50.119 --> 35:54.699
I've walked by it many times
and only recently really noticed

35:54.702 --> 35:58.282
it and took a picture of it,
and I think it'll be helpful to

35:58.280 --> 36:00.700
you today because it gives you a
sense of what this port looked

36:00.699 --> 36:01.519
like in antiquity.

36:01.518 --> 36:04.518
We see the later port of Trajan
over here.

36:04.518 --> 36:07.698
But again think that away for
now and concentrate on the

36:07.704 --> 36:10.024
curving breakwaters of Claudius'
port.

36:10.018 --> 36:14.188
You see here this colossal
statue, possibly of Neptune,

36:14.188 --> 36:18.428
over here, a lighthouse,
over here, and the boats in the

36:18.432 --> 36:19.902
center of this.

36:19.900 --> 36:22.920
But most important for us again
are those curving breakwaters

36:22.916 --> 36:25.376
and the fact that they were made
up of columns.

36:25.380 --> 36:28.320
The columns are all that
survive today,

36:28.322 --> 36:31.192
and what a set of columns they
are.

36:31.190 --> 36:35.370
I show a detail of some of them
to you here.

36:35.369 --> 36:37.849
And you should be struck by
these columns,

36:37.847 --> 36:41.287
because these are columns
unlike any other columns that we

36:41.291 --> 36:44.011
have seen in the course of this
semester.

36:44.010 --> 36:45.770
If you look at these columns
very carefully,

36:45.768 --> 36:49.838
you will see that the capitals
on the top,

36:49.840 --> 36:53.140
which are very severe--they're
not exactly the Doric order but

36:53.143 --> 36:56.033
they resemble the Doric order--
very severe,

36:56.030 --> 37:00.380
and they are finished;
you can identify them as

37:00.384 --> 37:01.324
capitals.

37:01.320 --> 37:03.760
And the bases,
I'll show you a view of the

37:03.760 --> 37:06.560
bases in a moment,
the bases, as we'll also see,

37:06.556 --> 37:09.946
are also finished with very
nice moldings down below.

37:09.949 --> 37:13.149
But in between the bases and
the capitals,

37:13.150 --> 37:16.690
we see something again that
we've never seen before,

37:16.690 --> 37:19.780
and that is a series of drums,
of column drums,

37:19.780 --> 37:22.110
piled one on top of another.

37:22.110 --> 37:25.610
But those drums are not
finished, or they're left in a

37:25.606 --> 37:27.846
rough state -- one or the other.

37:27.849 --> 37:31.179
They have either been
deliberately left in a rough or

37:31.175 --> 37:33.985
rusticated state,
or they were unfinished.

37:33.989 --> 37:35.679
Why might they have been
unfinished?

37:35.679 --> 37:41.599
They might have been unfinished
because the project was late,

37:41.599 --> 37:43.549
they were rushing it,
they wanted to get it done,

37:43.550 --> 37:46.250
they needed to use the harbor,
and so they said,

37:46.250 --> 37:49.630
"Look, to save time just
put those columns up the way

37:49.628 --> 37:52.648
they are and don't bother
finishing the drums of the

37:52.652 --> 37:53.662
column."

37:53.659 --> 37:57.349
Or one could argue that it
might have had to do with

37:57.353 --> 37:59.413
expense,
that it was getting too

37:59.411 --> 38:02.921
expensive, and that they decided
not to finish the drums for that

38:02.920 --> 38:03.470
reason.

38:03.469 --> 38:06.589
Or it might have been
deliberate, or it might have

38:06.592 --> 38:09.462
been deliberate:
the idea to leave those drums

38:09.460 --> 38:12.010
rough, to make them look
rusticated.

38:12.010 --> 38:14.720
I'm going to make a case today
that it's the last,

38:14.722 --> 38:18.322
that this was a deliberate move
on Claudius and his architects.

38:18.320 --> 38:20.680
And one of the main reasons I
can make that--

38:20.679 --> 38:23.129
if this is all we had,
if we had only this port of

38:23.130 --> 38:25.010
Claudius,
only these columns in this

38:25.005 --> 38:27.555
style, it would be very
difficult to make the case.

38:27.559 --> 38:30.369
But as we're going to see,
when we move from this to that

38:30.367 --> 38:32.037
great gate,
or the Porta Maggiore,

38:32.036 --> 38:33.526
which was put up under
Claudius,

38:33.530 --> 38:37.060
and then not today but next
time, to a building that was put

38:37.057 --> 38:39.507
up in Claudius' honor after his
death,

38:39.510 --> 38:44.110
we will see that all three of
those have these rusticated

38:44.106 --> 38:47.986
columns or piers in common,
which suggests to us--it

38:47.994 --> 38:51.444
suggests to me for sure--
that these are--that leaving

38:51.443 --> 38:55.393
them in this rusticated state
was deliberate on the part of

38:55.385 --> 38:57.625
the patron and his architects.

38:57.630 --> 39:03.080
And I'm also going to suggest
that it had to do with Claudius'

39:03.083 --> 39:06.863
peculiar personality,
and especially his interest in

39:06.864 --> 39:08.334
antiquarianism,
in the past,

39:08.331 --> 39:11.101
in the history of Rome,
and the history of the

39:11.099 --> 39:12.739
Etruscans, and so on.

39:12.739 --> 39:18.089
Here's another detail of one of
the columns over here,

39:18.090 --> 39:20.460
where you can see the rough
drum, and then down below the

39:20.463 --> 39:22.553
base on which that sits,
a molded base,

39:22.554 --> 39:24.114
very carefully molded.

39:24.110 --> 39:25.880
The architects,
the designers,

39:25.882 --> 39:29.612
the artisans could finish these
columns perfectly well if they

39:29.614 --> 39:30.414
chose to.

39:30.409 --> 39:32.739
They did it on the base,
they did it in the capitals,

39:32.739 --> 39:33.679
but not in between.

39:33.679 --> 39:36.969
Here's another one where you
can see a series of columns

39:36.974 --> 39:40.034
engaged into a wall,
and again you can see the rough

39:40.030 --> 39:41.470
or rusticated drums.

39:41.469 --> 39:46.349
Then down below the molded and
finished bases.

39:46.349 --> 39:50.039
So this difference between what
we call finished masonry or

39:50.039 --> 39:53.719
dressed--
d-r-e-s-s-e-d--dressed masonry,

39:53.722 --> 39:58.532
or rusticated masonry:
masonry that is deliberately

39:58.532 --> 39:59.882
left rough.

39:59.880 --> 40:03.690
Again, in order to underscore
this point,

40:03.690 --> 40:08.470
I want to turn now to the great
gate or the Porta Maggiore in

40:08.472 --> 40:13.042
Rome,
also built by Claudius between

40:13.043 --> 40:15.013
41 and 54 A.D.

40:15.010 --> 40:18.290
You already know its location,
near the Tomb of Eurysaces,

40:18.293 --> 40:21.813
near the Underground Basilica
that we also discussed today.

40:21.809 --> 40:26.729
And I had mentioned to you
already that the purpose of this

40:26.728 --> 40:31.388
gate was to serve as a crossing
point for two aqueducts:

40:31.393 --> 40:35.043
aqueducts that had been begun
earlier,

40:35.039 --> 40:37.669
were worked on by Caligula,
and then completed by Claudius.

40:37.670 --> 40:41.400
And there were two of them that
crossed at this very point,

40:41.400 --> 40:45.020
and they needed something to
mask that crossing,

40:45.018 --> 40:48.408
and so they built this great
gate, the Porta Maggiore.

40:48.409 --> 40:51.489
If you look at this general
view of the Porta Maggiore,

40:51.487 --> 40:54.507
you will see much of what I
have already described.

40:54.510 --> 40:55.860
It has two open archways.

40:55.860 --> 40:58.700
The uppermost part,
which is the attic,

40:58.699 --> 41:01.049
which has an inscription--it's
a three-tiered attic,

41:01.050 --> 41:03.470
as you can see,
and if you look carefully you

41:03.469 --> 41:05.889
will see it has an extensive
inscription,

41:05.889 --> 41:08.889
making reference to Claudius
and to the aqueducts and so on.

41:08.889 --> 41:13.009
Down below we see a series of
smaller arcuations,

41:13.005 --> 41:17.885
surrounded by columns on either
side, supporting pediments

41:17.891 --> 41:18.751
above.

41:18.750 --> 41:22.420
If you look closely you can see
that the pediments are finished,

41:22.420 --> 41:25.750
the pediments are finished,
the lintels are finished,

41:25.750 --> 41:29.200
the capitals are finished,
but the blocks of the column

41:29.199 --> 41:32.779
and the blocks of the rest of
the structure are left in a

41:32.777 --> 41:34.117
rusticated state.

41:34.119 --> 41:37.049
They are not finished,
and we see that very stark

41:37.047 --> 41:39.977
difference between the
rusticated masonry and the

41:39.976 --> 41:42.536
finished masonry:
the smooth masonry,

41:42.539 --> 41:47.009
the dressed masonry and the
rough masonry in this structure.

41:47.010 --> 41:50.440
This gate, by the way,
is made out of

41:50.442 --> 41:55.022
travertine--travertine cut stone
construction.

41:55.018 --> 41:58.778
Here's another view that I
think shows you better the way

41:58.775 --> 42:02.995
in which this gate masks the
crossing of those two aqueducts.

42:03.000 --> 42:06.820
You can see two channels there,
and one would have had pipes

42:06.824 --> 42:10.724
running through it one way and
the other would have had pipes

42:10.715 --> 42:13.175
running through it the other
way,

42:13.179 --> 42:17.009
and that's how they crossed in
antiquity.

42:17.010 --> 42:18.800
And I'll show you a model that
may make that even clearer in a

42:18.795 --> 42:19.055
moment.

42:19.059 --> 42:22.839
You can also see the location
of the Tomb of the baker

42:22.838 --> 42:26.758
Eurysaces right next to the
so-called Porta Maggiore.

42:26.760 --> 42:29.080
Here's the model that I showed
you when we looked at the Tomb

42:29.081 --> 42:31.011
of Eurysaces,
the way in which the

42:31.007 --> 42:34.797
Praenestina and the Labicana
come into Rome and converge at

42:37.030 --> 42:40.450
Here you see the great gate or
Porta Maggiore behind it.

42:40.449 --> 42:43.819
And this is the best
illustration I can give of the

42:43.824 --> 42:48.564
way in which those two,
the pipes of the two aqueducts,

42:48.556 --> 42:52.106
cross behind the attic of the
gate,

42:52.110 --> 42:54.400
which is one of the reasons it
had to be as tall as it did,

42:54.400 --> 42:57.490
and one of the reasons it had
to have tiers was in order--

42:57.489 --> 42:59.549
because it was separated behind.

42:59.550 --> 43:03.410
You can see that very well
here, as well as the rusticated,

43:03.414 --> 43:06.744
the contrast between the
rusticated masonry and the

43:06.744 --> 43:09.414
finished masonry of this great
gate.

43:09.409 --> 43:18.009
This combination of the two is
a very mannered thing to do,

43:18.010 --> 43:20.110
and it's interesting that later
Renaissance architects in

43:20.112 --> 43:22.272
Italy--
and for those of you who are

43:22.266 --> 43:26.256
aficionados of the Renaissance,
you may know the work of an

43:26.257 --> 43:30.357
architect by the name of Giulio
Romano who created the famous

43:30.362 --> 43:32.282
Palazzo del Te in Mantua.

43:32.280 --> 43:34.970
And I show you a detail of the
Palazzo del Te,

43:34.969 --> 43:36.809
just to make the point,
the more general point--

43:36.809 --> 43:38.959
you don't have to worry about
Giulio--

43:38.960 --> 43:42.040
but just to make the general
point that these Renaissance

43:42.039 --> 43:44.219
architects,
like Giulio Romano,

43:44.217 --> 43:48.657
looked back to buildings like
the Porta Maggiore in Rome when

43:48.664 --> 43:52.824
they also conceived of buildings
in which they contrasted

43:52.815 --> 43:56.145
rusticated masonry with smooth
masonry,

43:56.150 --> 43:57.920
as you can also see so well.

43:57.920 --> 44:01.440
And here are two last details
of the Porta Maggiore,

44:01.440 --> 44:04.710
and I think these show you,
almost more than anything else

44:04.710 --> 44:07.350
I have thus far,
this incredible contrast

44:07.353 --> 44:10.593
between the finished and the
unfinished masonry,

44:10.590 --> 44:12.970
between the smooth and the
rough.

44:12.969 --> 44:16.039
And here you see,
you can see a detail of the

44:16.039 --> 44:18.689
pediment, of the smoothness of
that;

44:18.690 --> 44:21.450
of the lintel down below;
of the capital,

44:21.445 --> 44:24.985
which is completely finished;
and then even of the uppermost

44:24.994 --> 44:25.634
part of the column.

44:25.630 --> 44:27.610
And this is a particularly
interesting detail,

44:27.610 --> 44:29.640
I think, because it gives me
the sense,

44:29.639 --> 44:32.819
as I look at it,
that what the patron and

44:32.818 --> 44:37.658
architects are trying to do is
give us a sense that the column

44:37.664 --> 44:41.404
actually lives inside the
rusticated drums.

44:41.400 --> 44:45.050
I get the sense as I look at
this that this finished column

44:45.048 --> 44:49.078
is just--is very anxious to bust
out of the rusticated masonry in

44:49.076 --> 44:53.656
which it is confined;
it's very anxious to emerge

44:53.661 --> 44:57.011
from that rusticated masonry.

44:57.010 --> 45:00.020
And I can't help but think of
the Renaissance again,

45:00.021 --> 45:01.971
and especially of Michelangelo.

45:01.969 --> 45:05.319
For any of who've seen his
slaves in the Accademia in

45:05.324 --> 45:07.664
Florence,
the slaves that seem to--he

45:07.657 --> 45:10.077
took these big blocks of Carrara
marble,

45:10.079 --> 45:13.969
and he represents the slaves as
if they are still immersed in

45:13.967 --> 45:17.677
that marble,
but trying to break free from

45:17.684 --> 45:20.874
that marble,
as if these images of human

45:20.873 --> 45:24.603
beings were somehow located
inside that marble and just

45:24.599 --> 45:28.189
waiting for the genius
Michelangelo to free them from

45:28.186 --> 45:29.356
that marble.

45:29.360 --> 45:32.220
It's the same sense that I get
here when I look at this,

45:32.219 --> 45:35.319
and it makes me think again
that a very intelligent,

45:35.320 --> 45:41.270
a very refined mind is behind
sorting out this kind of thing,

45:41.268 --> 45:44.128
and conceiving of something of
this nature.

45:44.130 --> 45:47.610
And given the education and the
bent of Claudius,

45:47.606 --> 45:51.516
he is just the kind of man who
might have done that.

45:51.518 --> 45:54.458
And I think we need to see the
architecture of Claudius,

45:54.460 --> 45:56.320
this rusticated architecture of
Claudius,

45:56.320 --> 46:00.530
which is contrasted to the
smooth and finished

46:00.532 --> 46:03.252
architecture,
at the same time,

46:03.251 --> 46:07.061
as something that really is
reflective of the peculiar

46:07.059 --> 46:08.999
personality of this man.

46:09.000 --> 46:12.310
I think it's also important to
say though that this kind of

46:12.311 --> 46:13.801
architecture,
at this time,

46:13.795 --> 46:15.275
is very old-fashioned.

46:15.280 --> 46:18.860
The whole idea of using cut
stone travertine construction,

46:18.860 --> 46:22.310
after what we've seen is going
on in concrete construction,

46:22.309 --> 46:24.559
is a very old-fashioned thing
to do,

46:24.559 --> 46:27.219
and again shows us a man who is
looking to the past,

46:27.219 --> 46:28.839
who's looking to the history of
Rome,

46:28.840 --> 46:32.860
to the history of the
Etruscans, perhaps rather than

46:32.860 --> 46:34.200
to the present.

46:34.199 --> 46:38.739
But, on the positive side,
one could also say that what he

46:38.735 --> 46:41.755
is doing here,
he is using stone construction,

46:41.757 --> 46:44.177
but he is using it in a very
different way,

46:44.179 --> 46:46.659
and indeed an almost
anti-classical way,

46:46.659 --> 46:48.759
to the way in which Augustus
used it.

46:48.760 --> 46:50.490
Think of Augustus' Ara Pacis.

46:50.489 --> 46:54.459
Think of Augustus' Temple of
Mars Ultor in the Forum of

46:54.461 --> 46:55.861
Augustus in Rome.

46:55.860 --> 46:59.960
Both of those marble buildings,
in that case Luna or Carrara

46:59.960 --> 47:03.020
marble, based on ancient Greek
prototypes.

47:03.018 --> 47:04.858
This is also stone
architecture,

47:04.856 --> 47:07.046
and in that sense again
old-fashioned,

47:07.047 --> 47:09.177
but it's travertine,
not marble.

47:09.179 --> 47:13.719
But it is anti-classical in its
use of this rusticated,

47:13.722 --> 47:16.082
as well as smooth masonry.

47:16.079 --> 47:21.239
So I do want you to ponder this
architecture of Claudius and

47:21.235 --> 47:26.035
think for yourselves about
whether you think again it is

47:26.043 --> 47:28.913
due,
the form that it takes is due

47:28.909 --> 47:33.069
to the very interesting and
unusual personality of this one

47:33.068 --> 47:33.568
man.

47:33.570 --> 47:37.700
From Claudius,
I want to turn to the notorious

47:37.695 --> 47:41.815
Nero, and his amazing
architectural legacy.

47:41.820 --> 47:47.120
And you see a portrait of Nero
here, on the right-hand side of

47:47.117 --> 47:51.717
the screen, and a coin with his
mother on the left.

47:51.719 --> 47:54.959
The mother of Nero was
Agrippina the Younger.

47:54.960 --> 47:58.620
Agrippina the Younger was the
last wife of Claudius,

47:58.619 --> 48:02.619
and it was rumored that
Agrippina the Younger murdered

48:02.615 --> 48:06.005
Claudius with a bowl of poisoned
mushrooms.

48:06.010 --> 48:08.710
We don't know if that's true or
not, it may be just rumor

48:08.710 --> 48:09.290
mongering.

48:09.289 --> 48:12.289
But it's perfectly conceivable
because she certainly had a

48:12.293 --> 48:14.243
motive,
and that is she thought she

48:14.239 --> 48:16.499
would have more power if her
teenage son--

48:16.500 --> 48:19.450
because he was only about
17-years-old at the time--

48:19.449 --> 48:22.789
was on the throne of Rome,
instead of her older husband.

48:22.789 --> 48:25.609
And this coin that you see on
the left-hand side of the

48:25.614 --> 48:28.864
screen, of the young Nero and
Agrippina I think says it all;

48:28.860 --> 48:31.470
I mean, mother and son almost
nose to nose.

48:31.469 --> 48:38.039
This gives real meaning to
being 'in your face';

48:38.039 --> 48:40.479
as you can see here,
Agrippina is certainly in the

48:40.476 --> 48:41.866
face of Nero on this coin.

48:41.869 --> 48:46.429
And she was with regard to his
life, dominating him in the very

48:46.425 --> 48:48.405
early years of his reign.

48:48.409 --> 48:51.459
Nero was born in A.D. 37.

48:51.460 --> 48:54.340
He was emperor between 54 and
68.

48:54.340 --> 48:57.750
At his death,
his murder--he was forced to

48:57.746 --> 49:02.426
commit suicide actually in 68--
he suffered a damnatio

49:02.427 --> 49:06.807
memoriae,
which was a condemnation by the

49:06.807 --> 49:10.007
Senate of him,
a damnation of his memory;

49:10.010 --> 49:12.830
and an attempt to destroy his
portraits,

49:12.829 --> 49:14.809
and also his architectural
monuments,

49:14.809 --> 49:18.669
followed that damnatio
memoriae. Nero was the last

49:18.672 --> 49:20.952
of the Julio-Claudian emperors.

49:20.949 --> 49:24.759
He was the adoptive son of
Claudius, and as I've already

49:24.760 --> 49:27.880
mentioned the real son of
Claudius' last wife,

49:27.878 --> 49:29.608
Agrippina the Elder .

49:29.610 --> 49:33.290
I mentioned already that
Agrippina--or I gave you the

49:33.286 --> 49:37.026
sense--that Agrippina was a
quite aggressive woman who

49:37.032 --> 49:39.722
aggravated Claudius and Nero
both.

49:39.719 --> 49:42.109
We talked about the poisoned
mushroom stories,

49:42.110 --> 49:46.010
and the fact that when her son
became emperor,

49:46.010 --> 49:48.220
she received,
at least for a while,

49:48.219 --> 49:52.039
enhanced power in Rome.

49:52.039 --> 49:54.629
But Nero eventually paid his
mother back by having her

49:54.626 --> 49:55.406
murdered in A.D.

49:55.407 --> 49:55.697
59.

49:55.699 --> 49:59.949
He also got rid of his wife
Octavia, a beautiful young girl

49:59.945 --> 50:02.065
whom he had murdered in 62.

50:02.070 --> 50:05.850
So by the age of 25,
Nero had gotten rid of the

50:05.849 --> 50:07.999
women,
the two women,

50:07.996 --> 50:12.406
who had dominated his youth,
and his much-touted madness--he

50:12.411 --> 50:15.351
was not unlike Caligula in some
of the wild things that he did--

50:15.349 --> 50:18.219
his much-touted madness began
to appear.

50:18.219 --> 50:22.839
That said, despite his madness,
he was absolutely adored by the

50:22.840 --> 50:23.660
populace.

50:23.659 --> 50:27.109
It was a great show to watch
Nero, and people liked seeing

50:27.108 --> 50:28.558
what he would do next.

50:28.559 --> 50:30.239
He was adored by the populace.

50:30.239 --> 50:34.059
He was however hated by the
aristocracy and in 68,

50:34.057 --> 50:38.187
he was hunted down by his
enemies and he was forced to

50:38.188 --> 50:39.668
commit suicide.

50:39.670 --> 50:46.750
I would call Nero a patron of
architecture extraordinaire.

50:46.750 --> 50:49.790
His contribution to the
development of Roman

50:49.786 --> 50:52.536
architecture is indeed
extraordinary.

50:52.539 --> 50:56.439
He had a passion for the arts,
which undoubtedly led to his

50:56.442 --> 50:57.992
devotion to building.

50:57.989 --> 51:00.009
He wrote and he sang poems.

51:00.010 --> 51:01.250
Nero was a musician.

51:01.250 --> 51:03.360
He collected Greek works of art.

51:03.360 --> 51:06.300
He traveled to Greece to
participate in the Olympics.

51:06.300 --> 51:09.890
Whenever he did that,
they were always fixed in his

51:09.885 --> 51:10.455
favor.

51:10.460 --> 51:13.230
When he traveled around Greece
and Asia Minor,

51:13.230 --> 51:15.820
he stole--if he saw a work of
art he liked,

51:15.817 --> 51:18.397
he stole it,
and he brought it back to Rome

51:18.402 --> 51:19.452
to display.

51:19.449 --> 51:23.699
He interwove his life with his
art, in the same manner as

51:23.701 --> 51:24.841
Claudius did.

51:24.840 --> 51:29.110
He took advantage of that very
famous fire in Rome,

51:29.110 --> 51:33.640
which took place in 64 A.D.,
to--legend has it that he

51:33.637 --> 51:36.197
fiddled while Rome burned.

51:36.199 --> 51:39.819
He wasn't fiddling actually but
he was participating in some

51:39.818 --> 51:42.858
sort of musical performance;
we know that.

51:42.860 --> 51:46.560
And after the fire raged
through the city and caused

51:46.556 --> 51:49.596
incredible havoc and great
destruction,

51:49.599 --> 51:54.209
what Nero did was instead of
rebuilding the land for the

51:54.210 --> 51:59.330
people of Rome,
he just expropriated 300 to 350

51:59.327 --> 52:04.677
acres of prime real estate in
downtown Rome,

52:04.679 --> 52:08.649
and he used it to build his own
villa,

52:08.650 --> 52:11.030
his own palace,
in the center of Rome,

52:11.030 --> 52:13.840
the famous Domus Aurea or
Golden House,

52:15.730 --> 52:19.470
Nero's architecture was
intimately bound up with the

52:19.471 --> 52:23.801
vicissitudes of his life and his
distinctive, if not warped,

52:23.798 --> 52:26.218
personality,
as we shall see.

52:26.219 --> 52:31.349
Nero built two palaces in Rome,
and I'd like to begin with the

52:31.349 --> 52:36.059
one--I'd like to deal with those
in consecutive order.

52:36.059 --> 52:38.469
The first of these,
as you can see from the

52:38.472 --> 52:41.362
Monument List,
is the so-called Domus

52:41.356 --> 52:44.826
Transitoria--
the less well-known one and

52:44.831 --> 52:48.391
less well-preserved one--
the Domus Transitoria in Rome

52:48.393 --> 52:50.403
that was built sometime before
the fire,

52:50.400 --> 52:51.310
before A.D.

52:51.306 --> 52:55.756
64, because it was very
significantly destroyed in that

52:55.762 --> 52:56.752
fire of A.D.

52:56.751 --> 52:57.331
64.

52:57.329 --> 53:02.319
I'm showing you a Google Earth
image of the part of Rome in

53:02.318 --> 53:05.328
which this building found
itself.

53:05.329 --> 53:07.809
We are looking down--we've seen
this one before--

53:07.809 --> 53:09.699
we are looking down at the
Roman Forum,

53:09.699 --> 53:12.719
the Colosseum in the uppermost
part there,

53:12.719 --> 53:15.489
the Palatine Hill over here.

53:15.489 --> 53:19.949
And if we follow the Roman
Forum toward the Colosseum and

53:19.945 --> 53:23.125
toward the later Arch of
Constantine,

53:23.130 --> 53:27.190
we will see that there is a
spur hill over,

53:27.190 --> 53:31.260
and that spur hill is located
between the Palatine Hill and

53:31.255 --> 53:34.835
one of Rome's other hills,
the Esquiline--E-s-q

53:34.844 --> 53:37.494
-u-i-l-i-n-e--the Esquiline
Hill.

53:37.489 --> 53:43.489
Nero's dream was to link the
buildings that were going up on

53:43.485 --> 53:45.005
the Palatine.

53:45.010 --> 53:47.390
We've already talked about the
Imperial Palace,

53:47.391 --> 53:49.621
begun by Tiberius,
continued by Caligula.

53:49.619 --> 53:50.989
Claudius had no interest in
that.

53:50.989 --> 53:55.049
But then Nero returns to it,
and he's continuing to build

53:55.045 --> 53:57.215
this palace on the Palatine.

53:57.219 --> 54:01.089
But his dream is to link that
with property that he also owns

54:01.088 --> 54:04.738
on the Esquiline Hill,
and to make one truly grandiose

54:04.739 --> 54:07.109
palace that links those two
hills,

54:07.110 --> 54:10.140
across a spur hill called the
Velia,

54:10.139 --> 54:13.599
V-e-l-i-a, which is in this
uppermost part of the Roman

54:13.601 --> 54:16.601
Forum,
closest to the Colosseum.

54:16.599 --> 54:20.549
That was his dream,
and he began to try to realize

54:20.554 --> 54:22.254
it prior to 64 A.D.

54:22.250 --> 54:25.670
The building is called the
Domus Transitoria because it

54:25.670 --> 54:29.220
served as a point of transit
between those two hills,

54:29.219 --> 54:32.319
between the Palatine and the
Esquiline Hills.

54:32.320 --> 54:35.930
Again, because it was so
seriously destroyed in fire,

54:35.929 --> 54:40.509
and also because it was
deliberately destroyed by later

54:40.505 --> 54:44.315
emperors who were following the
damnation,

54:44.320 --> 54:48.200
the damnatio memoriae,
the damnation of Nero's memory,

54:48.199 --> 54:51.039
and felt that it was their
right, in a sense,

54:51.039 --> 54:52.359
to destroy his buildings.

54:52.360 --> 54:56.000
So those two things together,
deliberate destruction plus the

54:56.000 --> 54:59.640
fire, essentially destroyed most
of the Domus Transitoria.

54:59.639 --> 55:02.159
But a couple of sections are
preserved underground,

55:02.159 --> 55:05.969
and they're very important for
us to look at because they give

55:05.971 --> 55:09.471
us insight into the later Golden
House or Domus Aurea.

55:09.469 --> 55:12.189
I want to show you the two
sections that are still

55:12.193 --> 55:15.703
preserved in restored views that
you will find in your textbook,

55:15.697 --> 55:16.807
in Ward-Perkins.

55:16.809 --> 55:20.469
One of these is located beneath
the--

55:20.469 --> 55:23.289
while this is still on the
screen, if you look at the

55:23.288 --> 55:25.508
Palatine Palace here,
just a little bit up beyond

55:25.505 --> 55:28.715
where my finger is,
there is the dining hall of the

55:28.722 --> 55:30.742
later first century A.D.

55:30.739 --> 55:33.839
palace that we'll look at soon,
next week.

55:33.840 --> 55:35.310
You see it there.

55:35.309 --> 55:39.859
And one of the buildings,
a fountain of Nero's Domus

55:39.858 --> 55:43.158
Transitoria, is located under
that.

55:43.159 --> 55:46.269
And then over here,
this temple that you see right

55:46.266 --> 55:49.626
close to the Colosseum,
is a later Hadrianic Temple of

55:49.625 --> 55:50.825
Venus and Roma.

55:50.829 --> 55:54.089
The domed room that I'm going
to show you, is under that.

55:54.090 --> 55:57.760
So both of these are
underground, beneath later

55:57.762 --> 55:58.802
structures.

55:58.800 --> 56:03.140
This is a restored view from
Ward-Perkins of the fountain,

56:03.144 --> 56:06.654
the fountain court of Nero's
Domus Transitoria,

56:06.652 --> 56:10.162
and we see a number of
important features.

56:10.159 --> 56:13.779
We see an open court with a
pool, with columns around it.

56:13.780 --> 56:19.610
On the northern wall over here,
we see the fountain itself.

56:19.610 --> 56:22.900
We see that what the architects
have done is create,

56:22.900 --> 56:25.380
using a niche,
a place in that niche,

56:25.380 --> 56:29.430
a series of other niches,
that served as the location of

56:29.425 --> 56:33.245
the actual water from which the
fountain emerged,

56:33.250 --> 56:37.840
and the water would cascade
over this wall down here,

56:37.840 --> 56:40.470
and then end up in a long basin
in front of it.

56:40.469 --> 56:42.129
The wall is what's most
interesting.

56:42.130 --> 56:44.530
If you look at it,
you will see that it is

56:44.527 --> 56:48.107
essentially scalloped,
with columns in the front and

56:48.110 --> 56:51.550
then additional columns in the
receding bays,

56:51.550 --> 56:53.360
creating a kind of in-and-out
effect,

56:53.360 --> 56:56.610
very similar to theater
architecture,

56:56.610 --> 57:00.010
and I show you a restored view
of a typical theater,

57:00.010 --> 57:03.040
of earlier date,
just to give you a sense of

57:03.039 --> 57:04.729
what this is based on.

57:04.730 --> 57:08.090
You can also see that opening
up off this central court,

57:08.090 --> 57:10.960
screened by columns,
are barrel-vaulted rooms on

57:10.961 --> 57:11.941
either side.

57:11.940 --> 57:15.500
These were used as special
dining areas;

57:15.500 --> 57:18.850
so special dining areas with
beautiful views out onto this

57:18.849 --> 57:20.729
fountain court on either side.

57:20.730 --> 57:24.160
And then this restored view
also gives you a sense that the

57:24.155 --> 57:27.695
pavements were variegated,
were done in different designs.

57:27.699 --> 57:30.159
And we know that these
pavements were made out of

57:30.161 --> 57:32.931
marble and that the walls were
revetted with marble.

57:32.929 --> 57:35.529
This isn't the faux marble of
the First Style,

57:35.530 --> 57:40.220
this is real marble,
and it's our first example in

57:40.217 --> 57:44.807
Rome of a room that was revetted
with marble,

57:44.809 --> 57:48.229
brought from all parts of the
world: marble brought from

57:48.228 --> 57:50.438
Africa,
marble brought from Egypt,

57:50.442 --> 57:53.752
marble brought from Asia Minor
and also from Greece,

57:53.750 --> 57:58.020
in various colors,
to decorate the fountain court

57:58.019 --> 58:00.689
of Nero's Domus Transitoria.

58:00.690 --> 58:03.140
The other room,
and perhaps the more important

58:03.144 --> 58:05.984
of the two,
is the domed room--definitely

58:05.980 --> 58:09.360
more important of the two--
the domed room in the Domus

58:09.362 --> 58:10.442
Transitoria of Nero.

58:10.440 --> 58:12.840
And you see a restored view of
it here.

58:12.840 --> 58:14.710
What are we dealing with?

58:14.710 --> 58:18.310
We are dealing with a structure
that is clearly based on the

58:18.313 --> 58:21.983
thermal bath at Baia and the
frigidaria of Pompeii.

58:21.980 --> 58:23.770
It is a concrete structure.

58:23.769 --> 58:25.769
It looks as if it's round.

58:25.768 --> 58:29.878
In fact, you can see a circle
inscribed in the pavement,

58:29.882 --> 58:31.232
down here below.

58:31.230 --> 58:33.470
The structure is made out of
concrete.

58:33.469 --> 58:35.949
It has a dome and an
oculus.

58:35.949 --> 58:38.849
But even though it is inscribed
in a circle,

58:38.849 --> 58:40.589
if you look carefully at the
walls,

58:40.590 --> 58:42.520
you will see that although they
are curved--

58:42.518 --> 58:44.758
they follow the curvature of
the circle--

58:44.760 --> 58:46.740
there are eight sides to this
wall.

58:46.739 --> 58:51.119
So the architect is starting to
explore the idea of an octagon.

58:51.119 --> 58:55.229
This is not an octagon--it's a
circle inscribed in an octagon,

58:55.230 --> 58:59.180
in a sense--but it is an
exploration into an eight-sided

58:59.175 --> 59:01.615
form,
that we're going to see is

59:01.621 --> 59:06.161
very, very important for a later
development in the Golden House

59:06.157 --> 59:06.947
of Nero.

59:06.949 --> 59:10.599
Also what we see here that's
very interesting,

59:10.599 --> 59:13.569
that's a further development of
the frigidarium and

59:13.565 --> 59:16.805
thermal bath idea,
is instead of this circular

59:16.813 --> 59:21.683
structure and an octagon ending
with these radiating apses,

59:21.679 --> 59:24.359
the four radiating apses that
we saw at Baia,

59:24.360 --> 59:27.490
for example,
we see that they extend into

59:27.489 --> 59:31.619
corridors on either side,
which expands the space in a

59:31.617 --> 59:33.967
way that we have not seen
before.

59:33.969 --> 59:37.989
You see, they don't end on
either side with these apses

59:37.987 --> 59:41.087
with walls,
they expand into these long

59:41.085 --> 59:42.835
corridors,
as you can see,

59:42.842 --> 59:47.032
creating a kind of cross shape,
and certainly adding to the

59:47.029 --> 59:50.829
interesting spatial
relationships and spatial

59:50.826 --> 59:54.236
possibilities,
and the use again of vista and

59:54.244 --> 59:56.424
panorama,
as we've seen.

59:56.420 --> 59:59.590
We see here also,
on either side here,

59:59.592 --> 1:00:03.372
a series of columns with metal
grills on top:

1:00:03.365 --> 1:00:07.815
so wonderful views through
those columns to what lies

1:00:07.824 --> 1:00:08.944
beyond.

1:00:08.940 --> 1:00:12.040
And then on this side,
a small pool that had white

1:00:12.039 --> 1:00:14.949
marble and then colored marbles
around that.

1:00:14.949 --> 1:00:18.649
So you have to imagine again
the overall appearance of this

1:00:18.648 --> 1:00:21.408
in antiquity,
when light would have streamed

1:00:21.409 --> 1:00:23.729
through the dome of the central
space,

1:00:23.730 --> 1:00:26.930
onto the walls that probably
had mosaic on them,

1:00:26.929 --> 1:00:29.369
through the grills and the
columns,

1:00:29.369 --> 1:00:32.519
onto the water of the white
pool here,

1:00:32.518 --> 1:00:35.778
which was also surrounded with
variegated marbles --

1:00:35.780 --> 1:00:38.480
these same marbles brought from
all over the world.

1:00:38.480 --> 1:00:40.270
The view must have been quite
spectacular.

1:00:40.268 --> 1:00:45.368
This is certainly again a form
of ostentatious palatial

1:00:45.373 --> 1:00:49.063
architecture that Augustus
eschewed,

1:00:49.059 --> 1:00:52.119
but was becoming of increasing
interest to the likes of

1:00:52.119 --> 1:00:55.269
Tiberius,
Caligula, and ultimately Nero.

1:00:55.268 --> 1:00:58.228
And again, just to make the
same point again,

1:00:58.230 --> 1:01:01.400
we can trace this back to the
experiments of the

1:01:01.398 --> 1:01:05.578
frigidaria at Pompeii:
that's the Stabian Baths too,

1:01:05.579 --> 1:01:09.009
the thermal bath,
the Temple of Mercury at Baia.

1:01:09.010 --> 1:01:12.600
But look at the difference that
it makes when you extend those

1:01:12.597 --> 1:01:16.167
apses into corridors,
creating a much freer spatial

1:01:16.168 --> 1:01:20.558
situation and adding to the
vista and panorama idea that has

1:01:20.561 --> 1:01:23.421
been so popular,
as we've long seen,

1:01:23.422 --> 1:01:24.652
with the Romans.

1:01:24.650 --> 1:01:30.730
In the time that remains,
I want to turn to Nero's most

1:01:30.730 --> 1:01:35.010
important architectural
commission,

1:01:35.010 --> 1:01:38.230
and I can't over-emphasize the
significance of this structure

1:01:38.233 --> 1:01:41.443
that I'm going to show you now,
the so-called Domus Aurea or

1:01:41.443 --> 1:01:44.893
the Golden House of Nero,
again because of its gilded

1:01:46.059 --> 1:01:49.259
We've already talked about the
fire that raged through Rome in

1:01:49.264 --> 1:01:50.784
64,
and that when that fire,

1:01:50.782 --> 1:01:52.892
when the smoke from that fire
died down,

1:01:52.889 --> 1:01:58.319
that Nero expropriated 300 to
350 acres in prime downtown

1:01:58.315 --> 1:02:00.835
Rome,
for his own use,

1:02:00.844 --> 1:02:05.244
for a private palace,
the so-called Golden House.

1:02:05.239 --> 1:02:08.589
We see a site plan here,
also from Ward-Perkins,

1:02:08.590 --> 1:02:11.700
where you can get a sense,
not only of the extent of

1:02:11.701 --> 1:02:15.181
this--
look how it covers ground from

1:02:15.184 --> 1:02:18.614
the Circus Maximus,
all the way across,

1:02:18.605 --> 1:02:22.745
to the Esquiline Hill,
as you can see so well here.

1:02:22.750 --> 1:02:25.090
So the Palatine Hill,
the Esquiline Hill,

1:02:25.086 --> 1:02:27.596
and also even the Caelian Hill
over here.

1:02:27.599 --> 1:02:30.959
He dug an artificial -- or he
had his architects dig an

1:02:30.961 --> 1:02:34.761
artificial lake in the center of
this, as you can see here.

1:02:34.760 --> 1:02:38.360
And the Golden House was very
extensive.

1:02:38.360 --> 1:02:41.500
There's only one part of it
that remains today,

1:02:41.500 --> 1:02:45.510
under the--or as part of the
Esquiline Hill in Rome,

1:02:45.510 --> 1:02:49.340
and we therefore call it the
Esquiline Wing of the Domus

1:02:49.344 --> 1:02:50.464
Aurea of Nero.

1:02:50.460 --> 1:02:55.100
This palace had an incredible
set of gimmicks,

1:02:55.099 --> 1:02:57.799
gimmicks that were so
noteworthy that the names of the

1:02:57.797 --> 1:03:01.177
architects have come down to us,
the architect and engineer who

1:03:01.175 --> 1:03:02.555
are responsible for this.

1:03:02.559 --> 1:03:05.649
And I think it is largely they
came down to us largely because

1:03:05.646 --> 1:03:08.376
of these incredible gimmicks
that they created for this

1:03:08.380 --> 1:03:09.090
structure.

1:03:09.090 --> 1:03:12.080
Their names were Severus and
Celer;

1:03:12.079 --> 1:03:13.719
Severus and Celer.

1:03:13.719 --> 1:03:17.839
And I believe I have put their
names on the Monument List for

1:03:17.838 --> 1:03:18.248
you.

1:03:18.250 --> 1:03:21.110
Yes I have, underneath the plan
of the Esquiline Wing.

1:03:21.110 --> 1:03:24.930
So Severus and Celer;
their names suggest to us that

1:03:24.929 --> 1:03:28.049
they were Roman architects,
in fact.

1:03:28.050 --> 1:03:34.040
And these gimmicks included a
125-foot statue of Nero himself,

1:03:34.039 --> 1:03:36.619
a colossal stature--or the
Colossus,

1:03:36.619 --> 1:03:42.079
as it is designated here--a
colossal statue of Nero

1:03:42.083 --> 1:03:47.413
assimilated to the sun god Sol,
S-o-l, the sun god Sol,

1:03:47.414 --> 1:03:51.844
and it was done in bronze and
it was done by a famous artist,

1:03:51.840 --> 1:03:54.260
whose name we also know,
Zenodorus--

1:03:54.260 --> 1:03:57.990
I've also put his name on the
Monument List for you--

1:03:57.989 --> 1:04:00.549
Zenodorus, who was a very
famous bronze caster.

1:04:05.230 --> 1:04:08.950
And what were some of the
gimmicks that Severus and Celer

1:04:08.951 --> 1:04:10.481
added to this palace?

1:04:10.480 --> 1:04:13.520
When you ate in the dining
hall, if you were invited as a

1:04:13.516 --> 1:04:17.026
special guest to eat with Nero,
while you were eating the

1:04:17.034 --> 1:04:21.124
coffered ceilings of one of the
dining rooms would drop on you

1:04:21.119 --> 1:04:24.869
all kinds of wonderful
fragrances and flower petals,

1:04:24.869 --> 1:04:26.409
while you ate.

1:04:26.409 --> 1:04:32.729
There was also a bath that gave
you a choice of sea water and

1:04:32.726 --> 1:04:38.726
salt water and water from the
sulfur springs of Tivoli;

1:04:38.730 --> 1:04:42.840
you had your choice,
if you were bathing at Nero's

1:04:42.835 --> 1:04:44.005
Domus Aurea.

1:04:44.010 --> 1:04:46.370
And most spectacularly of all,
and I think what Severus and

1:04:46.373 --> 1:04:49.973
Celer had particular fame for,
was they created a banqueting

1:04:49.972 --> 1:04:52.772
room that had a revolving
ceiling,

1:04:52.768 --> 1:04:55.838
supposedly, a ceiling that
revolved with the heavenly

1:04:55.838 --> 1:04:56.368
bodies.

1:04:56.369 --> 1:04:59.829
So an incredible array of
gimmicks,

1:04:59.829 --> 1:05:03.989
as I said before,
in this extraordinary palace,

1:05:07.090 --> 1:05:08.900
architecture at this time.

1:05:08.900 --> 1:05:12.540
I'm showing you here a plan of
the Esquiline Wing.

1:05:12.539 --> 1:05:15.259
This is the one part of the
palace that survives today.

1:05:15.260 --> 1:05:18.410
We'll talk about what happened
to this palace in a later

1:05:18.407 --> 1:05:20.407
lecture, but you can see it
here.

1:05:20.409 --> 1:05:24.129
Dozens and dozens of rooms
around a five-sided court,

1:05:24.134 --> 1:05:26.574
as you can see at this
location.

1:05:26.570 --> 1:05:31.630
And then here,
what is the so-called octagonal

1:05:31.630 --> 1:05:38.040
room of Nero's Domus Aurea,
which is a remarkable room.

1:05:38.039 --> 1:05:41.539
And I think it's fair to say
the single most important room

1:05:41.538 --> 1:05:44.858
that I will have shown you thus
far this semester is the

1:05:44.856 --> 1:05:47.326
octagonal room of Nero's Domus
Aurea.

1:05:47.329 --> 1:05:50.009
And you see it here.

1:05:50.010 --> 1:05:52.530
You can see the plan of the
octagon, and then the radiating

1:05:52.534 --> 1:05:53.454
spaces out from it.

1:05:53.449 --> 1:05:55.299
I'll return to that plan in
just a moment.

1:05:55.300 --> 1:05:59.090
Just to mention though,
by using Google Earth again,

1:05:59.088 --> 1:06:03.468
I can show you the particular
location of the Esquiline Wing

1:06:03.472 --> 1:06:05.852
on the Esquiline Hill today.

1:06:05.849 --> 1:06:08.389
What happened to it
eventually--and again I'm not

1:06:08.389 --> 1:06:11.619
going to go into the details now
but I will in the future--

1:06:11.619 --> 1:06:14.869
after Nero's damnatio
memoriae,

1:06:14.869 --> 1:06:18.339
some of this was destroyed and
much of it was incorporated into

1:06:18.342 --> 1:06:19.352
later buildings.

1:06:19.349 --> 1:06:23.989
Eventually a bath of the
emperor Trajan ended up on this

1:06:23.985 --> 1:06:26.655
site,
and the emperor covered over

1:06:26.661 --> 1:06:29.381
what remained of Nero's Domus
Aurea,

1:06:29.380 --> 1:06:30.680
what hadn't been razed to the
ground,

1:06:30.679 --> 1:06:33.529
and incorporated some of it
into his later bath.

1:06:33.530 --> 1:06:37.230
And, in fact,
this hemicycle of Trajan's

1:06:37.226 --> 1:06:42.056
Baths is actually the
entranceway today of the Domus

1:06:42.061 --> 1:06:43.011
Aurea.

1:06:43.010 --> 1:06:45.900
You can see it right here,
and you can see that the other

1:06:45.902 --> 1:06:49.112
remains of both Trajan's Baths
and of the Domus Aurea have been

1:06:49.105 --> 1:06:51.115
incorporated into a modern
garden,

1:06:51.119 --> 1:06:55.449
a very attractive garden where
you can wander and see some of

1:06:55.451 --> 1:06:57.041
the remains of both.

1:06:57.039 --> 1:06:58.789
And actually what you see
here--it just shows how amazing

1:06:58.793 --> 1:07:00.453
Google Earth is--
this circle that you see here

1:07:00.454 --> 1:07:02.304
is actually--
it has a grate on top

1:07:02.297 --> 1:07:05.587
today--but it is actually the
oculus of Nero's

1:07:05.588 --> 1:07:07.788
octagonal room,
which is down below,

1:07:07.786 --> 1:07:09.276
which is located underground.

1:07:09.280 --> 1:07:12.040
So if you visit the Domus
Aurea, which is,

1:07:12.039 --> 1:07:13.479
as you can see,
right near the Colosseum,

1:07:13.480 --> 1:07:17.030
you go into the entranceway
through the hemicycle of

1:07:17.028 --> 1:07:20.328
Trajan's later baths,
and you find yourself in a

1:07:20.326 --> 1:07:21.636
series of corridors.

1:07:21.639 --> 1:07:24.579
We've talked about these
corridors before,

1:07:24.576 --> 1:07:28.516
because we talked about the
paintings that Fabullus did,

1:07:28.516 --> 1:07:32.526
for Nero's Domus Aurea;
first the Third Style paintings

1:07:32.527 --> 1:07:35.007
and then the Fourth Style
paintings.

1:07:35.010 --> 1:07:37.600
And you'll remember that the
Domus Aurea was described as

1:07:37.603 --> 1:07:40.003
Fabullus' prison,
because there were so many

1:07:39.998 --> 1:07:43.218
rooms and corridors that it
would take a whole lifetime to

1:07:43.219 --> 1:07:44.009
paint them.

1:07:44.010 --> 1:07:47.250
And you see some of those here:
barrel vaulted corridors,

1:07:47.248 --> 1:07:49.738
stuccoed over,
and then painted in the Third

1:07:49.737 --> 1:07:51.007
and Fourth styles.

1:07:51.010 --> 1:07:55.070
Another gimmick that you see
throughout the Domus Aurea are a

1:07:55.068 --> 1:07:59.328
series of bridges that are built
to carry water from one part of

1:07:59.331 --> 1:08:01.091
the palace to another.

1:08:01.090 --> 1:08:04.240
Another view here showing one
of the corridors,

1:08:04.239 --> 1:08:06.709
and what you see here is
something that we have not

1:08:06.710 --> 1:08:09.320
discussed yet,
but is the wave of the future,

1:08:09.322 --> 1:08:11.632
and that is concrete faced with
brick.

1:08:11.630 --> 1:08:13.700
After the fire there was
realization--

1:08:13.699 --> 1:08:17.009
the fire of 64--there was
realization that stone burned

1:08:17.011 --> 1:08:19.521
too easily,
it was not an effective facing

1:08:19.515 --> 1:08:21.825
any longer,
and that they needed to come up

1:08:21.832 --> 1:08:22.922
with something else.

1:08:22.920 --> 1:08:25.420
Brick worked better with fire.

1:08:25.420 --> 1:08:28.600
So the decision was taken to
move--and this is not the tile

1:08:28.601 --> 1:08:31.461
brick in Pompeii,
this is real brick--and the

1:08:31.460 --> 1:08:35.500
decision was taken to begin to
use brick-faced construction for

1:08:35.501 --> 1:08:36.741
these buildings.

1:08:36.738 --> 1:08:40.108
At this time it was stuccoed
over, as you can see here:

1:08:40.108 --> 1:08:42.228
stucco, and then painted on
top.

1:08:42.229 --> 1:08:45.139
So you wouldn't have actually
seen the brick in antiquity,

1:08:45.140 --> 1:08:48.350
but we'll see it was not long
until the Romans recognized that

1:08:48.354 --> 1:08:51.364
brick was a very attractive
material in its own right,

1:08:51.359 --> 1:08:52.739
and began to leave it exposed.

1:08:52.739 --> 1:08:53.949
But we're not there yet.

1:08:53.948 --> 1:08:56.808
The paintings,
the Fourth Style paintings of

1:08:56.807 --> 1:08:57.537
Fabullus.

1:08:57.538 --> 1:09:01.008
You'll remember this one that
we've already looked at,

1:09:01.010 --> 1:09:03.480
with the reintroduction of
architectural fragments and the

1:09:03.475 --> 1:09:05.245
architectural cages in the Domus
Aurea.

1:09:05.250 --> 1:09:08.010
This is the single--as I've
already said--

1:09:08.010 --> 1:09:10.650
the single most remarkable and
important room that I've shown

1:09:10.649 --> 1:09:14.569
you thus far this semester,
the octagonal room in Nero's

1:09:14.570 --> 1:09:15.780
Domus Aurea.

1:09:15.779 --> 1:09:20.059
You see this cross-section
plan, an axonometric view from

1:09:20.060 --> 1:09:21.590
Ward-Perkins here.

1:09:21.590 --> 1:09:23.160
And you can get a very good
sense of this.

1:09:23.159 --> 1:09:25.679
This is truly an octagonal room.

1:09:25.680 --> 1:09:29.320
The experiment in the domed
room, where they had inscribed a

1:09:29.323 --> 1:09:32.663
circle into an octagon,
gave them the idea that they

1:09:32.663 --> 1:09:36.133
were going to try to make an
actual octagonal room out of

1:09:36.134 --> 1:09:38.874
concrete,
and they succeed here.

1:09:38.868 --> 1:09:40.478
You can see the eight sides of
this room.

1:09:40.479 --> 1:09:43.319
You can see it has a series of
radiating alcoves,

1:09:43.319 --> 1:09:46.869
but much bigger alcoves than we
saw in the frigidaria at

1:09:46.869 --> 1:09:49.379
Pompeii,
or in the thermal bath at Baia,

1:09:49.375 --> 1:09:52.425
and differently shaped ones--
not all the same,

1:09:52.429 --> 1:09:56.729
but a couple are cross-shaped
and others are rectangular--

1:09:56.729 --> 1:09:57.729
different shapes.

1:09:57.729 --> 1:10:01.849
And then the axonometric view
shows you that within those

1:10:01.845 --> 1:10:06.245
alcoves there are additional
niches in some of the walls that

1:10:06.253 --> 1:10:10.223
give more of a sculptural
quality to this than has been

1:10:10.222 --> 1:10:11.842
the case before.

1:10:11.840 --> 1:10:15.260
And this again was no small
feat on the part of these

1:10:15.264 --> 1:10:16.124
architects.

1:10:16.118 --> 1:10:20.578
Why is the Domus Aurea so
important--excuse me--the

1:10:20.583 --> 1:10:24.963
octagonal room of the Domus
Aurea so important?

1:10:24.960 --> 1:10:27.840
The octagonal room of the Domus
Aurea--

1:10:27.840 --> 1:10:29.810
and I've given you a number of
bullet points here--

1:10:29.810 --> 1:10:33.980
represents a break from the
tyranny of the rectangle,

1:10:33.979 --> 1:10:37.279
the tyranny of the rectangle
that we know from Greek and

1:10:37.279 --> 1:10:38.719
Etruscan architecture.

1:10:38.720 --> 1:10:41.500
It enables vistas to be created
in every direction,

1:10:41.500 --> 1:10:45.060
and you know the importance to
Romans of vistas and panoramas.

1:10:45.060 --> 1:10:49.340
It creates one continuous
envelope around an interior

1:10:49.341 --> 1:10:50.001
space.

1:10:50.000 --> 1:10:53.100
It fully realizes--this
development has been long in

1:10:53.100 --> 1:10:57.550
coming but we're finally there--
it fully realizes the technical

1:10:57.554 --> 1:11:02.174
and expressive potentiality of
Roman concrete construction.

1:11:02.170 --> 1:11:07.540
It represents a switch of
emphasis from solids to voids --

1:11:07.538 --> 1:11:11.278
from walls and roofs that we
saw in such buildings as the

1:11:11.279 --> 1:11:15.279
Temple of Portunus,
to the insubstantial space that

1:11:15.279 --> 1:11:17.239
they enclose and shape.

1:11:17.238 --> 1:11:20.908
It is the interior space,
not the walls that matter now.

1:11:20.908 --> 1:11:24.118
And in this new interior
architecture,

1:11:24.118 --> 1:11:28.368
light plays a key role:
natural light that creates

1:11:28.369 --> 1:11:31.319
drama, as well as illuminates.

1:11:31.319 --> 1:11:36.789
The importance of the octagonal
room of Nero's Domus Aurea

1:11:36.789 --> 1:11:39.189
cannot be overstated!!!

1:11:39.189 --> 1:11:45.089
The octagonal room heralds the
Roman architectural revolution

1:11:45.094 --> 1:11:50.904
that we saw already beginning at
places like Palestrina,

1:11:50.899 --> 1:11:53.879
but it is finally here,
in its full-blown form;

1:11:53.880 --> 1:11:58.130
whereas I said the potentiality
of the expressiveness of Roman

1:11:58.128 --> 1:12:00.148
concrete is fully realized.

1:12:00.149 --> 1:12:02.109
This is the room itself,
as it looks today.

1:12:02.109 --> 1:12:06.379
We can see the octagon,
we can see the dome.

1:12:06.380 --> 1:12:09.860
We can see the way in which the
octagon becomes the dome,

1:12:09.860 --> 1:12:13.470
the eight sides and the way it
is shaped to become the dome

1:12:13.467 --> 1:12:14.087
above.

1:12:14.090 --> 1:12:16.790
We can see some of the niches
here.

1:12:16.788 --> 1:12:21.028
We can see the way in which the
spaces expand from the central

1:12:21.027 --> 1:12:23.877
space, and we can see niches
within those,

1:12:23.875 --> 1:12:27.135
to give a greater sculptural
quality to it.

1:12:27.140 --> 1:12:29.540
And you can get a little bit of
the sense of the light here.

1:12:29.538 --> 1:12:32.018
This would have been
elaborately decorated in

1:12:32.015 --> 1:12:32.685
antiquity.

1:12:32.689 --> 1:12:34.139
I show you a restored view.

1:12:34.140 --> 1:12:37.290
All of those same marbles,
from Egypt, from Africa,

1:12:37.287 --> 1:12:39.047
from Asia Minor,
from Greece,

1:12:39.051 --> 1:12:42.281
all brought together here;
lots of different colors.

1:12:42.279 --> 1:12:45.239
This is what those Pompeians
wished their walls actually

1:12:45.244 --> 1:12:46.004
looked like.

1:12:46.000 --> 1:12:49.010
But you see real marble
revetted walls,

1:12:49.010 --> 1:12:51.400
marble pavements,
and then up above --

1:12:51.399 --> 1:12:54.879
in all kinds of colors -- and
then up above the ceiling

1:12:54.881 --> 1:12:57.011
stuccoed over and also painted.

1:12:57.010 --> 1:13:02.090
One can only imagine Nero
entering into this octagonal

1:13:02.090 --> 1:13:05.350
room, and how he must have felt.

1:13:05.350 --> 1:13:10.040
And, in fact,
we have a quote from Nero,

1:13:10.038 --> 1:13:12.928
in which he says that when the
Domus Aurea in Rome was

1:13:12.934 --> 1:13:15.214
finished--
or he's reported to have said,

1:13:15.207 --> 1:13:17.577
when the Domus Aurea in Rome
was finished--

1:13:17.578 --> 1:13:19.058
he's reported to have said,
and I quote:

1:13:19.063 --> 1:13:22.203
"At last,
at last, I am going to be able

1:13:22.204 --> 1:13:25.454
to be housed like a human
being."

1:13:25.448 --> 1:13:29.028
That was the way Nero thought
about this.

1:13:29.029 --> 1:13:31.019
He achieved his goal,
undoubtedly,

1:13:31.016 --> 1:13:34.566
at least for a short period of
time before he died in 68.

1:13:34.569 --> 1:13:37.019
And I believe--and I'm sure you
agree with me--

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I believe that it is for the
Domus Aurea,

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especially for the octagonal
room of the Domus Aurea,

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that Nero would have liked to
be remembered,

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and indeed he achieved his goal.

1:13:48.369 --> 1:13:48.919
Thank you.

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