Daily Updates
Week Ten: 21 November
21 November. James Barkley Reporting
The Baths of Caracalla, or Thermae Antoninianae, are one of the most architecturally sophisticated and the second largest bath complex found in Rome. Located on Via delle Terme di Caracalla and Via Antonina, this bath complex gave residents on and in the area of the busy Appian Way a place to exercise, shop, read, socialize, get clean or just relax after a hard day's work. The aqueduct aqua Nove Antoninianae was constructed in 212 AD and the actual bath block was inaugurated in 216 AD by the emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Bassianus (Caracalla). The peribolus, or outer enclosure, was finished within the years 222 and 235 AD under the rule of Alexander Severus. Between 270 and 324 AD, the emperor Aurelian repaired the complex after a fire, Diocletian restored the aqueduct, and Constantine converted the southern-most plunge bath in the cal(i)darium into an apse. On the northern side, there are four main entrances to the bath building, while the rest of the building is enclosed within a xystus, or garden. At the southern boundary of the complex, there were two libraries, a stadium, and cisterns.
The complex remained in use until 537 AD when the Gothic King Vitige severed the aqueduct. The baths were subsequently abandoned, and they soon fell into disrepair. Beginning in the 12th century, the site became a popular resource for materials to decorate churches and palaces. Particularly in 1545 AD, when Pope Paul III Farnese began his excavations, many large statues, precious objects, bronzes and colossal marble groups such as the Farnese Bull and the Weary Hercules were acquired. Modern excavations have uncovered a Mythraeum and water mill within the vast substructure. The entire complex itself spans an area of 337 meters by 328 meters. The central building is 214 meters by 110 meters and consists of two stories above and below ground. About 150,000 cubic meters of earth was excavated for the foundation. The walls and vaults consist of about 210,000 cubic meters of concrete, 5.6 million pieces of brick, and 815,000 complete bricks. The interior consisted of 210,000 cubic meters of marble and granite, including 252 column shafts, 16 of which were 40 to 42 Roman feet long and weighing close to 50 tons each. The general layout of the complex follows the symmetrical cross-axial plan of the Baths of Trajan. The focus of the buildings two axes is the large hall for cold baths called the frigidarium. There were four plunge baths in this large room, as well as, the statues of the Weary Hercules and the Latin Hercules, and the fountains that are presently found in the Piazza Farnese. To the south, the frigidarium opens onto the tepidarium, which then opens onto the caldarium. The tepidarium was a smaller vestibule with two plunge baths of warm water in which the bather could acclimatize himself before entering the hotter caldarium. The caldarium was a circular room with a cupola, or dome, measuring 36 meters in diameter. This room originally contained 7 plunge baths that were heated by ovens below. There would have been huge metal framework windows that would have allowed for copious amounts of light and maximum insulation. On this southern side, there were also laconica, or dry heat rooms, and possible solariums. On its northern side, the frigidarium opens onto an open-air pool, or natatio, which was about a meter deep. Through vestibules on the eastern and western sides of this room, one enters the apodyteria, or changing rooms. The apodyteria then open onto the palaestrae, or courtyards where exercise took place. Each palaestra was surrounded on three sides by porticoes that supported a promenade terrace. The floors of these palaestrae were paved with mosaics of geometric shapes and acanthus volutes. Sources - Claridge, Amanda. Rome. New York: Oxford University Press Inc., 1998. - Piranomonte, Marina. The Baths of Caracalla. Rome: Mondadori Electa S.p.a., 2002. - Sear, Frank. Roman Architecture. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1982. - YegŸl, Fikret. Baths and Bathing in Classical Antiquity. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992.
A latitudinal view of the frigidarium. This large hall spans an area of 58 m X 24 m. It was covered by 3 cross vaults that rested on 8 Egyptian granite columns. This spacious room is the center of the building and acted as a crossroad between the two axes.
Paved floor of the porticoes in the palaestra. This floor mosaic consists of tesserae of green and red porphyry, Numidian yellow (giallo antico) marble, and other grey marbles. The pattern here is of fish scales; aquatic life was a popular motif in bath buildings.
A fragment of floor mosaic currently found in the eastern palaestra. This black and white mosaic depicting a putto, or cupid, riding some sort of sea monster was originally part of the paved floor of the promenade terrace found above a portico in the palaestra.
Wall and Corner in the eastern palaestra. Remnants of an entablature are still visible. In the corner, remnants of the ceiling of the portico are still visible. The door in the picture leads to the apodyterium.
Floor mosaic from the eastern palaestra with geometric figures and acanthus volutes as a border. The open court of the palaestra was paved with this design. It is unlikely that any extremely strenuous or physical activity took place here. The fenced off room in the background contains wall paintings from a 2nd century Hadriatic domus that was buried on the south-eastern side of the precinct.
Southern facade of the bath block. The southern section of the bath block was reserved for hot and warm room in order to take advantage of the afternoon sun. The first visible room with the apsidal superstructure was most likely used as a laconicum used for sudationes, or sweat baths. Next to the laconicum, the caldarium is barely visible. Two brick piers used to support the massive dome are visible in front of the room. The xystus is also visible on the right side.
Plan of the Baths of Caracalla: (1) Frigidarium, (2) natatio, (3) tepidarium, (4) cal(i)darium, (5) palaestra, (6) apodyterium, (7) laconicum, (8) xystus, (9) library, (10) stadium, (11) cisterns.