Pl.: Frigidaria

The cold room of a Roman-style bathhouse. It appeared in the first century BC and soon became the largest room in the baths. It contained one or more cold-water immersion pools (piscinae). In smaller baths, the frigidarium could also serve as dressing room. It was normally rectangular in shape and connected to the apodyterium and the tepidarium.

Plan of the Forum Baths of Cumae, with the frigidarium and its two cold-water immersion piscinae highlighted in orange (plan by Konogan Beaufay, redrawn from Guardascione 2019, fig. 1).

L: The frigidarium of the Large East Baths at Mactar, Tunisia. To the left is the natatio (behind the arches), the small recess at the back is a piscina, and the double door to the right leads to the tepidarium (photo Konogan Beaufay).
R: The frigidarium of the so-called Baths of Licinius at Thugga, Tunisia. In the bottom right picture, the two lateral arches open onto two piscinae, and the central one leads towards the tepidarium (photos Konogan Beaufay).