64 to build a palace complex of staggering dimensions. The emperor Nero commandeered many of the neighborhoods razed by the Great Fire of A.D. Even before Covid-19, when the site was open to the public on weekends, few people came. I had an appointment to meet Alessandro D’Alessio, who oversees the excavation and restoration of what must surely have been, in its day, the world’s biggest royal palace. A cluster of nuns passed by, and one of them pointed me toward a poorly marked gate at the base of the hill-the entrance to the Domus Aurea, or what’s left of it, anyway. There was almost no one here, aside from a few young mothers pushing strollers along the pathways. I could see the crowds converging on the magnificent first-century amphitheater as I headed across the street to a small park on a hillock. The Colosseum in Rome draws close to eight million tourists a year, making it one of the world’s most-visited archaeological attractions. Joshua Levine Photographs by Gaia Squarci
