Ever notice how authoritarian rulers try to salve their ego, distract attention from their corruption, and dazzle others with bling? And there’s gold, always gold!

A great fire destroyed more than half of the city of Rome in the summer of AD 64. Suspected of having torched the city to make room for a new three hundred (!) room party palace, Nero put the blame on Christians. Allegedly he covered some with pitch and set ablaze to illuminate his garden parties. It is likely that both Peter and Paul died in this bloodbath.

It is possible that 1 Peter 4:12-14 alludes to this terrible time: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you . . . If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed . . .”

But Nero wanted the blessing! With fantasies of being divinely appointed, he commissioned a 100-foot golden statue (“colossus”) of himself in the guise of the sun god Apollo. Setting a record for first-century bling, he encrusted his new party palace with marble, jewels, fountains, and gold. He named the monstrosity the “Domus Aurea” or “Golden House.” Gold again!

The above photo shows the great octagonal foyer of the Golden House. Light still floods through the oculus in the dome, but the marble and gold are gone. From deep in the halls of the Domus Aurea I hear the cries of martyred Christians and feel the shame of people in the Roman empire who cringed at excesses and blasphemies of their ruler. I can understand their shame.

Ever the narcissist, Nero had neither shame nor empathy. Determined to be successful and popular, he entered chariot races and won every time! He played lyre and sang in public performances from which audiences were afraid to leave. Nero got first prize in every event he entered at the Olympics in Greece! When he returned to Rome, a great crowd of sycophants chanted, “Hail to Nero, our Hercules! Hail to Nero, our Apollo!”  

Autocrats and dictators often do not end well, and so with Nero. Many Romans thought he started well, but saw his increasing cruelty. He murdered his mother, kicked his pregnant wife to death, and killed officials who did not align with his agenda. The Roman Senate declared him an enemy of the people to be flogged to death. Instead, Nero took his own life.

What happened to that golden palace? Subsequent rulers, ashamed of Nero’s cruelty and waste, stripped all valuables from the complex. Soon the Colosseum rose where Nero’s gardens and reflecting pools had stood. The enormous amphitheater, visited by millions today, took its name from the “colossus” statue that once stood next to it.

Emperor Trajan (AD 117-138) filled Nero’s Golden House—built into the side of a hill—with dirt. Trajan built his own palace on top, using Nero’s buried mansion as a substructure. Centuries later, Trajan’s palace disappeared, but the great party house remained largely intact underground (in the hill immediately north of the Colosseum). Visitors in the sixteenth century, including artists Michelangelo and Raphael, lowered themselves into the Domus Aurea to admire its frescoes.

Not until the twentieth century was the Golden House properly excavated, and only recently is it again open to visitors (who can enter only with a guide). Today’s tour includes ten minutes with virtual reality googles that allow visitors to look in all directions to appreciate the bling and the gold. The place is a great labyrinth, with rooms and hallways up to thirty-six feet high–a monument to Nero’s decadence.

As often happens with autocrats, Nero’s name eventually became a byword for cruelty and grift. Gold saved neither him nor his reputation.

The misrule of an autocratic sociopath cannot end soon enough.