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Rome Baths of Caracalla
Apolitical Project
Among the most splendid monuments of ancient Rome is the building known as the Thermae
Antoninianae, or, as we call them, "the baths of Caracalla". Today, the roofs have collapsed,
many walls have fallen down, the statues have been removed, and the decoration is gone, but yet,
the ruins belong to the most impressive remains of Antiquity.
The emperor Caracalla was a son of Septimius Severus, succeeded his father in 211, and was to
reign until 217. In the late second century, the role of the Senate had diminished and the Severan
dynasty was sometimes looking for support among others classes of Roman society, like the
equestrian order and the inhabitants of the big cities. For them, the new baths were built, not far
from the Via Appia, so that every visitor of Rome would immediately see them.
Approximately thirteen thousand prisoners of war from the Scottish campaign of Septimius
Severus had to be used to level the building site. In addition, some six thousand tradesmen were
engaged every day in the actual construction, which required no fewer than twenty-one million
bricks. To make the ornamentation six hundred marble workers required 6300 m of marble.
The complex consists of the real bathhouse and a park that surrounded it, which was created by
Caracalla's successors Heliogabalus and Severus Alexander. Water was brought to the bathhouse
by a new branch of the Aqua Marcia aqueduct, which was called Aqua Antoniniana. One arch
survives and is now, incorrectly, called Arch of Drusus.
Underground structures
The central building of the complex measured 214 by 114 meters and consisted of four levels,
two above ground and two below. It is not difficult to be impressed by it even today: the
imposing ruins are still thirty meters high. The entrance halls, called basilicae thermarum, were
in the northwest and southeast, and measured some 50 by 20 meters. Some archaeologists
believe these halls were also used by athletes and served as some sort of gym. A strong argument
for this interpretation is the mosaic that once graced the hall and shows all kinds of athletes.
Discovered in 1824, it is now in the Vatican Museums.
The bathhouse was symmetrically built along a northeast-southwest axis. Visitors who entered
the city from the southeast and wanted to clean themselves after their trip entered the baths here.
They could hire a slave who took care of their belongings. There were lockers too, although they
had no locks. We know from a bathhouse in Pompeii that you did not have to remember the
number of your safe, but an erotic picture.
Building elements
Swimming pool
Some sixteen hundred people at one time could use the cold baths, tepid baths, hot baths, steam
baths and the open air bath, which was the size of a modern, Olympic-sized swimming pool (50
meters in length). After your visit to the gym, you could relax over here.
As was usual since the age of Trajan, the building was constructed in such a way that the visitors
could easily walk from one facility to another, with a main corridor between the two entrance
halls. You would pass the swimming pool, the cold bath, the tepid baths (where people would
spend most of their time), and the warm baths. There was also a hot bath, which was flanked by
two steam baths.
Garden house
In 216 the main building was complete. Caracalla's distant cousin and successor Heliogabalus
(218-222) erected the side-buildings, but it was not until the time of Severus Alexander
(222-235) that the finishing touches were put on the structure. Beside the bathhouse, the complex
was home to shops, an athletic track, sports fields, pleasure gardens, massage rooms, saunas, two
reading rooms, a hair salon, perfumeries, cafeterias, music pavilions, and a museum.
In addition to all of this, one of the side-buildings housed an underground temple to Mithras. In
the subterranean structures, hundreds of stokers burned ten tons of wood every day to keep the
water at the right temperature. The delivery of fuel was such an important task that Severus
Alexander counted it among his personal responsibilities.
Library?
Modern publications often mention brothels, but this is because for a long time scholars saw a
prostitute in every barmaid and masseuse. It says more about today's historians than it does about
the ancients themselves. Another possible mis-interpretation concerns two halls in the southwest,
which have been interpreted as reading rooms. However, the rooms are situated next to a large
water reservoir, and the author of the present article is not convinced that the engineers of
Antiquity had already reached the level stupidity needed to build a library on such a risky place.
Decoration
Late Antiquity
Later emperors, like Aurelian and Diocletian, have ordered repairs to the baths of Caracalla, and
we know that the Ostrogothic king Theodoric also restored a part of the complex that had fallen
into disrepair. The end came in 537, when Rome was besieged by Witigis and the water supply
was destroyed.
https://www.ancient.eu/Roman_Baths/
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/roman/beginners-guide-rome/
a/roman-architecture