House of Nero
Dates
Mid-1st to 3rd century CE
Garden Description
This house was built at the time of, and possibly for, the emperor Nero, who, on several occasions in the mid-1st century A.D., performed personally in the games at Olympia. To enable the construction of the building just south of the stadium, the earlier east baths were demolished. The house had a peristyle courtyard (G on plan), measuring 14 x 17 m., that was reached after passing through the atrium in the west. In the courtyard was a distinctive decorative feature (Fig. 1). This consisted of a water channel one meter wide around the edges of the courtyard that could only be crossed by a bridge on each of the four sides. The lack of paving in the area encircled by the water channel suggests that the courtyard may have been planted. The building was partially torn down in the early 3rd century to make way for a Roman bathhouse.
Plans
Bibliography
- A. Mallwitz, Olympia und seine Bauten. Munich,1972, pp. 276-277, fig. 230. (worldcat)
Keywords
- artificial water channelsAAT:300133792
- atriums (Roman halls)AAT:300004097
- peristyles (Roman courtyards)AAT:300080971