Secret Room in Rome's Domus Aurea

In 2019 archaeologists found a secret, underground room inside Nero’s palace in Rome.

The Domus Aurea (Latin, "Golden House") was a vast landscaped palace built by Emperor Nero in the heart of Rome after the great fire in 64 AD had destroyed a large part of the city.

The Domus Aurea complex covered parts of the slopes of the Palatine, Esquiline, Oppian and Caelian hills.

Its size can only be approximated, as much of it has never been excavated.

Some scholars place it at over 300 acres. Nero commissioned a colossal 35.5m bronze statue of himself, the Colossus Neronis. This statue may have represented Nero as the sun god Sol.

Nero placed mosaics, previously restricted to floors, in the vaulted ceilings. The Golden House was a severe embarrassment to Nero’s successors. It was stripped of its marble, its jewels and its ivory within a decade. Soon after Nero’s death, the palace and grounds were filled with earth and built over: the Baths of Titus were already being built on part of the site in 79 AD.