Nero’s Sunken City

Beneath the turquoise waves of the Bay of Naples lies an extraordinary underwater archeology site, the ancient Roman city of Baiae. From the first century to the third century AD, Baiae was the exclusive playground for the rich and powerful among Rome’s elite. What made Baiae such a special place? What really went on there? And why did it disappear?

150 miles south of Rome, Baiae is a resort where the elites could let their hair down, and indulge their wildest dreams. The coastal city offered spectacular ocean views but lay in the dangerous shadow of Vesuvius. Today, few know about Baiae. Some of the greatest names of the Roman republic such as Caesar, Cicero, Mark Anthony, Nero, all of these men had villas at Baiae.

Shellfish farming was an industry as far back as the Roman times. The entrepreneur Sergius Orata is credited with being the first to lay out artificial oyster beds in the bay in the first century BC. The ancient Roman cookbook Apicius suggests how the rich prepared their farmed seafood. To prove their wealth, the rich would sometimes eat 100 oysters in a one sitting.

Nero was a cruel, eccentric psychopath who persecuted Christians and, it’s said, burned Rome to the ground. Baiae was his escape where he could indulge in his sadistic fantasies. Nero spent a fortune on indulgent banquets in Baiae. But these banquets weren’t just about food. They featured sex and debauchery.