Also: thermae aestivae

Latin term to denote Roman-style summer baths, as opposed to thermae hiemales. Both types of baths are often found close to each other, and they are sometimes structurally linked. Alternative terms are balneum or lavacrum aestivum. Some uncertainty remains as to the distinctive characteristics of these ‘seasonal’ baths. It seems that the summer baths had more and larger pools than the winter baths. In North African examples, the summer baths also had an open semicircular latrine. The duo summer–winter baths seems to have been popular in the warmer regions of the Mediterranean, such as the Italian Peninsula, the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, and the Eastern provinces.