Nero's Rotating Dining Hall Discovered

Posted by Johnny Cat in Architecture, Everything Else on October 13, 2009 at 4:34 pm


neros-palace-article121698606a3adc2000005dc201306x463_1Back in 1st century A.D. (or C.E., if it pleases you), the Romans were really starting to crank things up.  Things like debauchery, poisoning of rivals, fratricide…basically setting the stage for their own eventual downfall.

Of the many Emperors who ruled over this lifestyle, Nero stands out as one of the nastiest.  But you gotta give the guy points for trying to throw a serious bash.  At the time of his rule, a Roman historian named Suetonius chronicled everything, including the construction of a dining room that rotated.

Now, archeologists think they may have finally discovered this room, which was filled in and built-over in 80A.D.

Quite how the rotating dining room worked is still a bit of a mystery; some think it was by the motion of canals under the room and others think it more likely that it was manually cranked by slaves but hopefully the new funding will enable the archaeologists to confirm one way or the other.

In addition to the rotating floor, the opulent room featured fretted ivory ceilings which would pour flower petals and perfume down on Nero’s guests.  Jackie118 has more fascinating history of Nero’s Rome at the link!

Link | Image: Daily Mail


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6 comments to "Nero's Rotating Dining Hall Discovered"

  1. gabe
    October 13th, 2009 at 5:05 pm

    A.D is quite fine, and appropriate...

  2. Mr. D
    October 13th, 2009 at 6:20 pm

    Wow, I had always wondered about that rotating room ever since I had to read Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars in college. Great that actual evidence was found.

    Awesome site, by the way.

    Best,
    Mr. D

  3. milovoo
    October 13th, 2009 at 6:51 pm

    The "Number of the Beast" from Revelations is generally thought to be a way of referring to Nero as well.

    as Wikipedia explains ... "The Greek spelling, “Ner?n Kaisar,” transliterates into Hebrew as “???? ???” or “nrvn qsr”. Adding the corresponding values yields 666"

  4. Algomeysa
    October 14th, 2009 at 2:05 am

    They just think it's a dining hall. It was actually an Indiana Jones-style trap mechanism (1 d6 damage).

  5. Gauldar
    October 14th, 2009 at 8:31 am

    @Milovoo

    You may want to take a look through these links:

    http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&ei=JtLVSobcMsSvlAeGmOicCQ&sa=X&oi=sp ell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&ved=0CAkQBSgA&q=actual+number+of+the+beast &spell=1

    People have beleived that it's been 666 for all these years, yet with other possibilities people are still sure of themselves. It's not that first time that's happened though, it all depends on what sources you get your information from.

  6. milovoo
    October 14th, 2009 at 6:15 pm

    Certainly there are other interpretations, but when I read it with the other surrounding imagery it feels 'right' to me. Especially when you consider who the author(s) would have been most angry at during that era. I wouldn't force my view on others - I just find it pretty convincing.


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