Aula Regia

The Aula Regia or Royal Reception Hall certainly lives up to its name. You see a cavernous space, measuring over 100 feet deep and 80 feet wide, with an extremely high, vaulted wooden ceiling. Here formal receptions are held. The sides of the Hall are broken by alternating rectangular and circular bays framed by fluted columns of Phrygian marble. The marble walls and floor gleam, throwing back shards of reflected images. Monumental statues of divinities gaze down at you from the lateral bays, carefully observing your movement toward the apse at the far end of the Hall. Centrally placed, between openings to the peristyle beyond, stands the imperial throne on a raised dais.