Stabian Baths
Alternative name | Italian: Terme Stabiane |
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Location | Pompeii, Italy |
The Stabian Baths are an ancient Roman bathing complex in Pompeii, Italy, the oldest and the largest of the 5 public baths in the city. Their original construction dates back to ca. 125 BC, making them one of the oldest bathing complexes known from the ancient world. They were remodelled and enlarged many times up to the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD.[1][2]
Description
The Stabian Baths are located off the intersection of two main streets in Pompeii: the Via dell'Abbondanza to the south and the Via Stabiana[3][4] to the east (the latter gives them their modern name), taking up the whole insula.[5][6] On the west side, the baths are bordered by the Vicolo del Lupanare, and to the north by the house of P. Vedius Siricus.[7] As was typical of ancient Roman bathhouses, the facilities were divided by sex. The main entrance was from the Via dell'Abbondanza, through a vestibule (1) into the palaestra (2), a large open-air exercise ground. A row of shops fronted the street. On the right-hand side of the palaestra was a colonnade which screened the entrance to the men's bathing chambers: the apodyterium (changing room) (25), followed by the frigidarium (cold room) (22), tepidarium (warm room) (23), and caldarium (hot room) (21). These chambers were rectangular, barrel-vaulted, and parallel to one another. The arrangement is known as the 'single-axis row type', the most common model for baths adopted all over the Roman world.[8]
On the left-hand side of the palaestra was a swimming pool (
The men's apodyterium is paved in gray marble bordered by basalt along the walls. The walls were painted in white with a red base, and above them the vaulted ceiling was plastered in elaborate stucco, made up of
History
The baths were first constructed ca. 125 BC. A
By the time Pompeii became a
Running water was supplied to the baths for the first time around the turn of the first century AD, when they were connected to the city's aqueduct. It was likely around this time that a house to the west of the palaestra was demolished to make room for an outdoor swimming pool (natatio), ball court, a second changing room, and wings of rooms on either side which were either loggias or contained shallow pools.[2] The shallow pools would have been used by patrons to wash their feet before they entered the swimming pool. Open rooms, probably exedrae, were added to the north wing of the baths facing onto the palaestra.
The Stabian Baths were damaged in the AD 62 Pompeii earthquake, but were rebuilt, enlarged and remodelled to make them even more luxurious than before.[1] The seismic activity in the area rendered the baths especially vulnerable to damage – they appear to have been at least partially closed and undergoing a general repair/remodel when the eruption of Vesuvius took place in 79.[28]
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Entrance from Via dell'Abbondanza
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Men's Hot Room, showing the Hypocaust underfloor heating system
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Women's Hot Room
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Cubicles for clothes in the men's apodyterium
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Women's apodyterium
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Frigidarium
Bibliography
- Beard, Mary (2008). The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press.
- de Albentiis, Emidio (2006). "Social Life: Spectacles, Athletic Games, and Baths," Pompeii. Barnes & Noble Publications.
- Koloski-Ostrow, Anna Olga (2009) "The city baths of Pompeii and Herculaneum," The World of Pompeii. Taylor & Francis; pp. 227-231.
- Fagan, Garrett G. (2002). Bathing in Public in the Roman World. University of Michigan Press.
- Mau, August & Kelsey, Francis (1902). Pompeii: Its Life and Art. Macmillan, pp 180–195.
- Sear, Frank (1982). Roman Architecture. Cornell University Press.
- Eschebach, Hans, Die Stabianer Thermen in Pompeji, De Gruyter 1979.
External links
References
- ^ a b "Water and Bathing: The Stabian Baths". Archaeology Magazine. 2019.
- ^ a b Garrett G. Fagan (2002). Bathing in Public in the Roman World. University of Michigan Press. p. 57.
- ^ Danko, Steve J. (2011-09-15). "Via Stabiana in Pompeii, Italy". Steve's Genealogy Blog. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
- ^ "Via Stabiana - Pompeii, Italy". ItalyGuides.it. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
- ^ Peter Connolly (1990). Pompeii. Oxford University Press. p. 62.
- ^ Mau, Kelsey, 1902 ; p. 183
- ^ Koloski-Ostrow (2009); p. 227
- ^ Fikret Yegül, Diane Favro (2019). Roman Architecture and Urbanism: From the Origins to Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. p. 65–67.
- ^ "Perseus Encyclopedia, Dado". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
- ^ DeLaine, Janet (2017) "Gardens in Baths and Palaestras", Gardens of the Roman Empire. Cambridge University Press; p. 173
- ^ Beard, 2008; p. 244-246
- ^ Koloski-Ostrow, 2009; p. 231
- ^ "Stabian Baths". pompeiisites.org. Retrieved 2022-10-02.
- ^ Mau, Kelsey, 1902; p. 187
- ^ Mau, Kelsey;p. 186-187
- ^ Beard, 2008; p. 245
- ^ Mau, Kelsey, 1902; pp. 188-189
- ^ Mau, 1902; p. 184-185
- ^ Mau, Kelsey;p. 185
- ^ Mau, Kelsey, 1902; p. 185
- ^ Mau, Kelsey; pp. 186-189
- ^ a b Frank Sear (1982). Roman Architecture. Cornell University Press. p. 112.
- ^ de Albentiis, Emidio, "Social Life: Spectacles, Athletic Games, and Baths", Pompeii. Barnes & Noble Publications (2006); p. 189
- ^ Mary Beard (2008). The Fires of Vesuvius. Belknap Press. p. 244.
- ^ Garrett G. Fagan (2002). Bathing in Public in the Roman World. University of Michigan Press. p. 57, 60.
- ^ Garrett G. Fagan (2002). Bathing in Public in the Roman World. University of Michigan Press. p. 60.
- ^ Beard, 2008; p. 246
- ^ Garrett G. Fagan (2002). Bathing in Public in the Roman World. University of Michigan Press. p. 64.