The Domus Aurea, or Golden House, was the sprawling palace of the Roman emperor Nero. Archaeologists recently uncovered a chunk of Egyptian blue ingot, an example of the opulence of the palace itself.

The colorful material weighed over 5 pounds and was likely made to decorate an emperor’s palace, Italian officials said.

The palace is called the Domus Aurea, or Golden House ... digging on the Oppian Hill and found what they thought were the ruins of the Baths of Titus. One of them fell through the dirt, landed ...