Also balineum
Pl.: balnea

The original Latin term to denote a bathhouse, whether public or private. The meaning of the word shifted during the early Imperial period, when the term thermae was introduced, but the difference between the two terms is still the subject of scholarly debate and the textual and epigraphic evidence does not permit to make a clear distinction. Possibly, balnea were privately owned and the owner had to buy a permit to use the public water supply. In modern research, the term balnea is mainly used to designate modest neighbourhood baths.

The Hunting Baths of Lepcis Magna. This neighbourhood bath building may have been one of the many balnea of the period (photo Sadi Maréchal).