In 64 , Rome burned . Nero enacted a public relief effort as well as significant reconstruction . A number of other major construction projects occurred in Nero 's late reign . Nero had the marshes of Ostia filled with rubble from the fire . He erected the large Domus Aurea . In 67 , Nero attempted to have a canal dug at the Isthmus of Corinth . Ancient historians state that these projects and others exacerbated the drain on the State 's budget .