The Domus Aurea was a vast landscaped palace built by the Emperor Nerone in the heart of ancient Rome after the great fire in 64 AD had destroyed a large part of the city and the aristocratic villas on the Palatine Hill.

Nerone took great interest in every detail of the project, according to Tacitus, and oversaw the engineer-architects, Celer and Severus, who were also responsible for the attempted navigable canal with which Nerone hoped to link Misenum with Lake Avernus.

The Domus Aurea was designed as a place of entertainment, as shown by the presence of 300 rooms without any sleeping quarters. The main palace building was on the Esquiline Hill. No kitchens or latrines have been discovered. Contemporary conveniences such as heating pipes have also not been discovered.