The Emperor Nero had a colossal statue of himself erected in the vestibule of the Domus Aurea. The Greek, Zenodorus, designed the bronze statue which reached one hundred to one hundred twenty Roman feet (37m) high, depending on the source. Pliny the Elder, however, suggests that it was made out of marble. After Nero's reign, the Emperor Vespasian gave it a second life as the sun-god Helios (Colossus Solis) after the memory of Nero had fallen into disrepute. The Emperor Hadrian created a masonry base for the colossus and purportedly moved the statue to create space for the Temple of Venus and Roma near the Roman Colosseum (Amphitheatrum Flavianum). Marble originally covered the masonry face of this pedestal which was filled with concrete in typical Roman fashion. The remains of the masonry pedestal were removed in 1936. ^[1] Nero Claudius Cæsar Augustus Germanicus (December 15, 37 – June 9, 68), born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and last Roman Emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty (54–68). ... The style of wall paintings in Domus Aurea inspired Raphaels Vatican Stanze and 18th-century Neoclassicism alike. ... Pliny the Elder: an imaginative 19c portrait. ... Venus de Milo, front. ... Imperator Caesar Vespasianus Augustus (November 17, 69 – June 23, 79), known originally as Titus Flavius Vespasianus and usually referred to in English as Vespasian, was emperor of Rome from 69 to 79. ... Helios in Greek In earlier Greek mythology, the sun was personified as a deity called Hêlios (Greek for the sun), whom Homer equates with the sun Titan, Hyperion. ... Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus (January 24, 76–July 10, 138), known as Hadrian in English, was Roman emperor from 117–138, and a member of the gens Aelia. ... The Temple apsis by night. ... The Colosseum in Rome, Italy The Colosseum, originally known as the Flavian Amphitheater (lat. ...

External links

• online article
• A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome
• Lacus Curtius website.