CLASS NOTES: The Significance of Nero's Octagonal Room on Roman Architecture (Roman Architecture)

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Notes on video lecture:

The Significance of Nero's Octagonal Room on Roman Architecture

Roman Architecture

Diana Kleiner, Yale University

Notes taken by Edward Tanguay on March 7, 2014 (go to class or lectures)

Choose from these words to fill the blanks below:

voids, alcoves, vistas, gimmicks, Zenodorus, light, private, lake, first, cement, Celer, fire, Baia, five, Fabullus, rectangle

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64 AD: the great of Rome

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after the fire, Nero expropriated 300 acres of downtown real estate to build his Golden House

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dug an artificial

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only one part remains today on the Esquiline hill, which is why it is called the Esquiline wing

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dozens of rooms around a -sided courtyard

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octagonal room

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the single-most important room in Roman architecture

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a series of radiating , but much larger than the ones we saw in the frigidaria at Pompeii or in the thermal bath at , and each one different

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represents a break from the tyranny of the

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creates in every direction

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fully realizes the technical and expressive and potentiality of Roman

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*** switches emphasis from solids to , from walls and roofs to the insubstantial space they enclose and shape

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*** now plays a key role, natural light that creates drama as well as illuminates

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*** the heralds the Roman architectural revolution

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quote from Nero when it was finished: "At last, I am going to be housed like a human being."

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architects were Severus and [kell-AIR]

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this palace had a number of

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125-foot statue of Nero himself

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assimilated to the sun god Sol

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done in bronze by

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dining room

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coffered ceilings would drop fragrances and flower petals onto you as you dined

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bathroom

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gave you a choice of seawater or saltwater, or water from the sulfurous springs of Tivoli

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banqueting room

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ceiling that revolved with the heavenly bodies

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paintings by

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referred to as "Fabullus' prison" because it would take a lifetime to paint paintings for all the rooms

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series of bridges that carry water from one part of the palace to another

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much brick because they realized stone burned to easily

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stuccoed over and painted

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Romans because to use brick exposed but not yet in the century

Vocabulary:

expropriate, v. to transfer another's property to oneself, and thereby depriving them of possession of it ⇒ "After the smoke of the 64 AD fire of Rome died down, Nero expropriated 300 acres of prime downtown property for his own use, for a private palace, the so-called Golden House."

coffer, n. [KAH-fer] in architecture, a decorative sunken panel in a ceiling, dome, soffit, or vault ⇒ "When you ate in the dining room of Nero's Golden Palace, the coffered ceilings would drop fragrances and flower petals onto you as you dined."

soffit, n. the visible underside of an arch, balcony, beam, cornice, staircase, vault or any other architectural element ⇒ "The soffit of the axial archway is deeply coffered with a relief of the apotheosis of Titus at the center."

cornice, n. horizontal molded projection that crowns or completes a building or wall ⇒ "Domestic buildings are often surmounted by a cornice."

alcove, n. a recessed portion of a room, or a small room opening into a larger one, such as a lateral recess in a library ⇒ "Nero's Octogonal Room has a series of radiating alcoves, but much larger than the ones we saw in the frigidaria at Pompeii or in the thermal bath at Baia."

lateral, adj. of, at, toward, or from the side or sides ⇒ "a lateral recess in a library"