Nero’s “Solar” Kingship and the Architecture of the Domus Aurea (original) (raw)
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Nero’s ‘solar’ kingship and the architecture of Domus Aurea
The Domus Aurea, Nero's last "palace" constructed in the very heart of ancient Rome, is a true masterpiece of Roman architecture. We explore here symbolic aspects of the emperor's project, analysing the archaeoastronomy of the best preserved part of the Domus, the Esquiline Wing. In particular, we study the so-called Octagonal Room, the huge vaulted room which is in many respects a predecessor of the Pantheon. The project of the room turns out to be connected with astronomy, as will be that of the Hadrian's Pantheon 60 years later. Indeed, the divinization and "solarisation" of the emperor placed at the equinoxes as a point of balance in the heavens are shown to be explicitly referred to in the rigorous orientation of the plan and in the peculiar geometry of the design of the dome.
The role of the sun in the Pantheon’s design and meaning
Despite being one of the most recognizable buildings from ancient Rome, the Pantheon is poorly understood. While its architecture has been well studied, its function remains uncertain. This paper argues that both the design and the meaning of the Pantheon are in fact dependent upon an understanding of the role of the sun in the building, and of the apotheosized emperor in Roman thought. Supporting evidence is drawn not only from the instruments of time in the form of the roofed spherical sundial, but also from other Imperial monuments, notably Nero's Domus Aurea and Augustus's complex of structures on the Campus Martius -his Ara Pacis, the 'Horologium Augusti,' and his Mausoleum. Hadrian's Mausoleum and potentially part of his Villa at Tivoli are drawn into this argument as correlatives. Ultimately, it is proposed that sun and time were linked architecturally into cosmological signposts for those Romans who could read such things.
The Domus Aurea and the Roman Architectural Revolution
2003
The Table of Contents has been deliberately made very detailed to serve as a primary reference system for all key rooms, suites, phases and masonry types. Details of a lesser nature are in the index. Given the complexity of the masonry and its chronology in the Esquiline Wing, specific features, phases and masonry types must be cited repeatedly throughout the text, but overall the text is organized so that each major topic has one primary location where its main discussion is concentrated, while the myriad other references to it are ancillary to other topics. Accordingly, the Table of Contents has a specific entry for each one of these primary discussion locations, which accounts for its complexity. Throughout the text, then, the names of all masonry types, rooms, suites and larger named portions of the building are capitalized, which indicates that that feature has at least one of these primary discussion locations that is specifically cited in the Table of Contents. Illustrations page ix ONE K An Introduction to the Esquiline Wing of Nero's
2016
Until 1995, it was thought that the Pantheon of Augustus had the entrance on the south side in contrast to that of the next scheduled time of Hadrian, which has placed it in the north. The archaeological excavation executed by the Sovrintendenza Capitolina di Roma, under the supervision of P. Virgili, during 1995-97, have shown that the Pantheon of Augustus had almost the same plan that Hadrian had rebuilt later and that we can see today. Even the surveys, conducted during 2007-2009 on the Mausoleum of Augustus, inside and on the forecourt, allowed to advance new hypotheses about the ground plan of the monument and its rearrangement made by a successor of Augustus. In 1990, N. Lanciano published a reading of the Hadrian's Pantheon as a solar calendar that use the light entering from the oculus and scans the interior space, at solar noon, on Equinoxes and Solstices days, in addition to the April 21 birthday of Rome. These researches show the two buildings, Pantheon and Augustus' Mausoleum, have more formal and symbolic links than was supposed. With attention to contemporary written sources, issues arise: the orientation of the axes of the buildings and their distance; the organization of the squares on which they open; the geometry of the inner dome and hall of the Pantheon. The urban complex of Augustus includes also the monumental sundial, mentioned by Plinius and partially excavated by Buchner in 1979, and the Ara Pacis location and its function: the most recent researches lead to exclude some hypotheses still present in articles and in the web. In the modern reuse (1990) this obelisk is a gnomon in the above horizontal sundial.
Architecture and Archaeoastronomy in Hadrian's Villa near Tivoli, Rome
2013
Built by the emperor Hadrian starting in 117 A.D., the villa is a masterpiece of ancient Roman architecture. Our Accademia Pilot project studied and surveyed the Accademia Esplanade, the highest artificial terrace of the villa, discovering that it was astronomically oriented along the solstitial axis, as were its main buildings, Accademia and Roccabruna. From 2009 to 2011 we photographed a series of light phenomena. In the Accademia at dawn of the winter solstice or at sunset of the summer solstice (opposed by 180°) the sun shines through the main axis of the building, creating spots of light in the Temple of Apollo. In Roccabruna at the summer solstice the sun creates a blade of light inside the dome. Archaeoastronomy provided a new key for understanding the meaning and function of those buildings, which were probably dedicated to the cult of the Egyptian goddess Isis, linked to the seasons.
The Symbolic Use of Light in Hadrianic Architecture and the 'Kiss of the Sun'
Journal of Archaeoastronomy and Ancient Technologies, 2018
In this presentation we will discuss three Roman monuments of the times of Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD): the Villa Adriana at Tivoli near Rome, the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome (now Castel Sant'Angelo) and finally the Pantheon (also in Rome). In all of them we see luminous phenomena which occur only in few set days during the year; they correspond to astronomical events such as the Solstices or other important dates of the Roman calendar. As we will see, this did not happen by chance and had a precise symbolic meaning. Also, we will explain why there are no written sources about Roman oriented buildings and their illuminations, producing an ancient and rare documentation: the description of the "Kiss of the Sun". (AaATec)
Archaeoastronomy in the Mausoleum of Hadrian (Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome).
This paper is about our new discovery of the astronomical orientation of the Mausoleum of Hadrian (today's Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome). It is oriented to the Cardinal points but nothing happens during the Equinox. Special luminous phenomena take place instead on Summer Solstice, which was a key date for other astronomically oriented buildings constructed by emperor Hadrian: Hadrian's Villa and the Pantheon.
The Pantheon is one of the most important architectural monuments of all time. Thought to have been built by Emperor Hadrian in approximately 125 AD on the site of an earlier, Agrippan-era monument, it brilliantly displays the spatial pyrotechnics emblematic of Roman architecture and engineering. The Pantheon gives an up-to-date account of recent research on the best preserved building in the corpus of ancient Roman architecture from the time of its construction to the twenty-first century. Each chapter addresses a specific fundamental issue or period pertaining to the building; together, the essays in this volume shed light on all aspects of the Pantheon's creation, and establish the importance of the history of the building to an understanding of its ancient fabric and heritage, its present state, and its special role in the survival and evolution of ancient architecture in modern Rome.
Under Augustus sign: the role of Astronomy in the foundation of Augusta Praetoria Salassorum
2013
Augusta Praetoria Salassorum (modern Aosta) was founded around 25 BC to celebrate the victory of Augustus' army on the Salassi. Aosta is a "city of the founder" under many respects; for instance, one of the two twin temples of the forum was devoted to Augustus, and a huge triumphal arc to the ruler still welcomes the town's visitors. Recently, a sculpted block has been uncovered, still in its original position, on a corner of one of the town's towers. The block carries reliefs -such as a plough and a spade -which are clearly related to the town's foundation ritual. As a consequence, we carried out an archaeo-astronomical analysis of the original urban plan taking into account the complex natural horizon of the Alps in which Aosta's valley is nested. The results show that the town was very likely oriented in such a way as to pinpoint Augustus' associations with the "cosmic" signs of renewal: the winter solstice and the Capricorn.