Nero's Golden House (Timewatch, 2001)

Rome had burnt to a cinder but the 26-year-old Emperor Nero turned his tragedy into a triumph by ordering the construction of the grandest, most ostentatious building on earth - the Domus Aurea or Golden House.
From the ashes of central Rome rose a vast complex of palaces, pavilions and temples set in 200 acres of parkland. The Golden House was a creation of great beauty but became a place renowned for violence and sexual perversion where the infamous emperor would satisfy his darkest desires. Even the Romans found it too much and so hated was this place that, after Nero's death, his lake was deliberately paved over to allow the construction of the Coliseum. Nero's Golden House was an audacious project - unheard of before and unequalled since. Today, a few rooms survive to remindus of its former sinister glory.
Now a new investigation is taking place to try and distinguish fact from fiction. It will be one of history's great detective stories - can the building help prove whether the Emperor Nero was as bad as they say - or worse? Or was he actually an inspired artist and designer unfairly maligned through the centuries? Is the 'Golden House' one of the unrecognized architectural wonders of the world?
Rome's most notorious emperor was trying to create a model of Roman domination on land and sea. There were hundreds of rooms, and thousands of frescoes and statues. Only the best was considered worthy. To cap it all, a 120-foot statue of Nero, as absolute ruler, stood at the entrance - (this was the Colossus - from which the Colosseum would later derive its name). On completing the Golden House Nero exclaimed, "Good, now I can at last live like a human being."
Combining new archaeological evidence, comprehensive historical research and high-end CGI, this film reconstructs for the viewer the unparalleled wonders of Nero's Golden House. This visually bold and exciting film exposes the man behind the myth, exploring just who the real Nero was and what exactly went on in his notorious building.

Narrator: Samuel West
Written & Directed by Phil Grabsky