Send to Kindle
The newly-excavated revolving banqueting hall of Roman Emperor Nero. Photo by EPA.
Archaeologists have discovered what they believe to be the remains of Nero's dining hall.
While excavating the Domus Aurea, or Golden House, built for the emperor on the Palatine Hill in Rome, they discovered part of a circular room supported by a pillar with a diameter of more than 13 feet (4 meters).
The hall is said to have had a revolving wooden floor which allowed guests to survey a ceiling painted with stars and equipped with panels from which flower petals and perfume would shower onto the tables below.
Suetonius, the Roman historian, described the unique revolving room in his Lives of the Caesars, written some 60 years after Nero's death.
"The chief banqueting room was circular and revolved perpetually, night and day, in imitation of the motion of the celestial bodies," he wrote.
Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, an archaeological expert, said: "People have been trying to find the rotating dining room for a long time. We don't have much idea about it except for what Suetonius tells us. It could have had a revolving floor, or possibly a revolving ceiling. "If they really have discovered it, that would be exciting."
Roberto Cecchi, Rome's commissioner for archaeology, announced that funds would be made available to help archaeologists carry out further investigation and try to verify whether they have indeed found Nero's dining room.
We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!
In a captivating revelation, archaeologist Nadezhda Karastoyanova from the National Museum of Natural History, in collaboration with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, disclosed the fascinating history of lion hunts on the present-day territory of Bulgari
A stroll through the centre of Rome is all it takes to realise how it came to deserve the title of ‘the Eternal City’
Ambassador Giuseppina Zarra participated today in the ceremony for the opening of direct flights between Sofia and Rome of the Italian national airline ITA Airways
G20 leaders gathering in Rome for their first meeting since the start of the pandemic face a global recovery hampered by a number of obstacles: an energy crisis driving higher fuel and utility prices, new outbreaks of Covid-19 and blocked supply chains.
High temperatures and dry weather assisted the spread of wildfires in Southern Europe with Italy being one of the worst hit.
Euro 2020 is finally here.
A recent discovery at the National Archaeological Reserve and ancient Roman colony Deultum near the village of Debelt in Sredets municipality is believed to be the earliest indication of Christianity in Bulgarian lands
Bulgaria has successfully reclaimed more than 4,000 ancient artifacts that were illegally exported from the country
In a captivating revelation, archaeologist Nadezhda Karastoyanova from the National Museum of Natural History, in collaboration with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, disclosed the fascinating history of lion hunts on the present-day territory of Bulgari
Archaeologists from Varna discovered an ancient object that has an analogue only in the collection of the Louvre
A boost to a country’s tourism industry can come in many shapes and forms.
For the third year in a row, a team of the National History Museum, under the leadership of the director of the museum - Associate Professor Bonni Petrunova, started the archaeological research of the medieval monastery "St. John Prodromos", Ahtopol
UN Happiness Report: Bulgaria's Astonishing Leap in Rankings
Bulgaria: 3 Regions With Lowest Life Expectancy - EU Report 2022
