A resource for the study of ancient baths

Large private baths excavated in Pompeii

On Friday 17 January 2025, the Parco archeologico di Pompei presented the results of the excavations of a new private bathhouse in a wealthy domus occupying the southern part of Regio IX, insula 10. The northern part of the insula, where a bakery and evidence of a construction site active in AD 79 were discovered, had already made the news.

Plan of the private bath complex in Insula IX.10. The bathing rooms are in red: peristyle/frigidarium (47), apodyterium (48), tepidarium (46) and caldarium (44), heated from the praefurnium (43). The complex was accessible from the domus to the south via a corridor (26), as well as from a large reception hall (the ‘Salone nero’, 24) decorated with scenes from the Trojan War.
Schematic plan of the baths in Regio IX, Insula 10, redrawn from the plan in the e-Journal Scavi di Pompeii (Konogan Beaufay).

This private facility, dated to the mid-1st c. AD at the latest and the largest of its kind in Pompeii, stands out because of its large piscina (4.60 x 3.30 m, 1 m depth) in a peristyle courtyard (11 x 10 m) and the quality of its decorations. The lead water conduits (fistulae) and taps, as well as a lead tank, are preserved in situ, but the boiler and the testudo of the caldarium‘s alveus were torn out during antiquarian digs. The suspensura rested on terracotta cylinders made of a single element, a popular solution in Pompeii, whereas the walls were heated using tegulae mammatae. The excavations in the domus are still ongoing, but the first results have been published online in open access in the E-Journal Scavi di Pompei.

The apodyterium (48) of the baths, with its red and white decoration, its black mosaic with marble inserts, and the benches running along the walls. Traces of nails on the walls are all that is left of wooden shelves for the storage of the bathers’ belongings.
The peristyle/frigidarium (47) of the baths, with its cold-water immersion pool, a water-supply fistula still in situ, its 3rd style wallpainting, and the scaffolding system put in place to excavate the room while keeping the elevation in place.

All pictures made available by the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompeii. Further images and a video tour are available on the BBC website.

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