Very often it is fabled about incredible villas that, in Hollywood and Beverly Hills, the movie stars made themselves "tailor-made", regardless of expenses, investing hundreds of millions of dollars in the realization of their wildest whims; faboulous swimming pools; I-Max screens for watching their premieres with friends; gold-clad bathrooms with taps studded with precious stones ...
Yet, in this race to the wildest pomp, someone preceded them by twenty centuries.
Is it necessary to remember his name?
Of course, his name was Nero.
Among the most incredible architectural works of antiquity, the Domus Aurea must certainly be remembered, the mythical residence that the emperor (not so good) musician commissioned to the architects Severo and Celere, immediately after the fire that destroyed Rome in 64 a.D.
It was a huge and luxurious 80-hectare mansion, built on three hills, and equipped with a large artificial lake (which was located in the place where the Colosseum stands today).
Among the wonders of the Domus Aurea, the latest mystery is the discovery of the Coenatio Rotunda: Nero's revolving dining room.
For centuries it was known of the existence of this very modern room for rich banquets, but decades of archaeological researches on the Esquiline and Palatine hills had not given any results.
Suetonius, in his "Lives of Cesars" , spoke about it as the "main dining room of the Domus Aurea", and described it as a "room that rotated day and night, imitating the movement of the world"
“PRAECIPUA CENATIOURUM ROTUNDA, QUAE PERPETUO DIEBUS AC NOCTIBUS VICE MUNDI CIRCUMAGERETUR” ("Special round dining room, continuously revolving day and night, imitating the world")
For centuries it was believed that this was a fairy tale linked to the legend of Nero's madness.
In June 2009, following excavations resulting from a collaboration between the Special Superintendency for the Archaeological Heritage of Rome, the École Française, and the Center Camille Jullian of Aix en Provence, the archaeologist Francoise Villedien brought to light on the Palatine admirable remains of the machine that allowed the room to rotate.
It is a unicum: a circular tower of 12 feet in diameter, 36 feet high, found after two thousand years in the bowels of the Palatine at a depth of 45 feet, after having walked sixty-two steps in the Barberini vineyard, which belonged the important Roman family.
This structure can be compared to a ship's engine room; it supported a circular wooden platform of at least 40 feet in diameter, with a sort of gazebo, which rotated moved by a hydraulic system that used the Claudius aqueduct, which at the time served the Palatine.
It was the main room where Nero received his guests.
The ceiling had holes from which flower petals and perfumes descended to inebriate the guests.
This incredible structure became a prototype for Renaissance towers and military fortresses.
Anyway, when we think about the modern era, there are many rotating public places even in the contemporary world.
Without leaving Rome, let's speak, for example, about the restaurant built on top of the so-called EUR Mushroom (Il Fungo), built in the late fifties for the Olympic games.
It was erected in the late 1950s, designed by arch. Roberto Colosimo and Eng. Aldo Capozza.
In addition to being one of the symbols of Eur, in the modern world it replicates the concept of the ancient rotating room Coenatio Rotunda of the Domus Aurea.
At first, it was conceived as a sightseeing place, with a revolving floor, to allow visitors to enjoy the 360 degree panorama of Rome while comfortably sitting at the table.
Coincidences?
If you are curious about this memorable finding of Imperial Rome, I suggest you a visit to the Palatine Hill, the cradle of Rome, a place of breathtaking beauty and charm, full of surprises, which you can discover with me, if you wish, to go back in time and feel the eternity wrapping this city.
Who knows if the villas of Julia Roberts or Tom Cruise will still be there in twenty centuries?
