THE BATHS OF POMPEII AND
HERCULANEUM
• The thermal Baths were an important part of
Roman life, and it was a Roman custom to visit
the baths daily, both for reasons of cleanliness
and to conduct business or meet friends. Upper
class men spent considerable time here not only
to bathe but also to socialise and conduct
business.
• Poorer townspeople took their daily baths here
as their homes did not have baths.
• Both men and women visited the baths
• The location and layout of the baths reflects
these functional features.
Location and layout
• The baths are located in accessible parts of the two towns- in your
notes name the two major baths in each town and identify the
location of each.
• They are divided into sections for the men and the women (except
for the suburban baths of Herculaneum)
• They include five parts:
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The waiting room or change room (apodyterium)
the cold bath ( frigidarium )
the tepid bath (Tepidarium )
the hot bath ( caldarium )
• The palaestra
• Baths could also include a large swimming pool (piscina) and
luxurious vaulted rooms in which to relax.
• The floors were decorated in mosaics and marble and the walls and
ceilings with stucco paintings.
terms
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Thermae (hot baths)
Frigidarium (cold water room)
Caldarium (hot steam room)
Tepidarium (warm water room)
Apodytarium (dressing room)
Laconicum (dry heat room)
Piscina (pools) – outdoor pools
Pompeii – the forum baths and the Stabian baths. Pompeii had a number of
baths – the Stabian baths are the earliest. In addition to the Stabian and
Forum baths, there are the remains of the Central, Suburban, Sarno and
Amphitheatre baths.
THE two main BATHS OF
POMPEII
The Latin word thermae
means "hot baths." These
public baths were like
spas.
The forum
baths on the
Via del terme
The Stabian baths (on the route to the
Stabian gate) on the Via dell’Abbondanza
THE STABIAN BATHS
• The entrance was on the Via dell’Abbondanza.
• These are the largest and oldest of the baths, built as
soon as the Romans entered Pompeii.
• These baths had been damaged in the earthquake of 62
so only the women’s section was in use at the time of the
eruption.
• The complex is build around a large peristyle with tuff
columns of the Samnite period covered with plaster
during the Imperial age.
• The eastern part contains the men’s bathing area, the
women’s sections and a heating plant in the middle.
• An innovation of the Imperial age was gymnasium
equipment and a swimming pool on the western side of
the palaestra.
The palaestra of the Stabian baths
Go to the CD web page and click on the hotspots for more
images from these baths..
THE FORUM BATHS OF POMPEII
The forum
baths
One of the thermae in
Pompeii. The Latin word
thermae means "hot
baths." These public baths
were like spas.
•The Forum Baths appear
to have been built soon
after Pompeii became a
Roman colony. There are
separate areas for men
and women, the men's
baths being far more
elaborate and spacious.
The Stabian baths (on the route to the
Stabian gate).
This public bathhouse, known today as the Forum Baths because of its
location, was built soon after the Roman conquest in 80 B.C. The residents
of Pompeii, both slave and free, who lived in the neighbourhood would
bathe here daily at public expense but the building was intended mainly for
visitors to the city. This building was found well preserved when excavated
in 1823
The floor plan of the Forum Baths
shows the area reserved for
men in blue and the area for
women in green. The various
sections on the floor plan are as
follows:
A men's entrance. 1 men's
apodyterium, or dressing room.
2 frigidarium, or cold bath.
3 tepidarium, or warm bath.
4 caldarium, or hot bath.
5
palaestra, or gymnasium.
6
bronze brazier and seats.
7
basin for ablutions. 8 bathtub. 9
furnaces for air and water at
different temperatures, serving
the facilities for both men and
women.
B women's entrance. 10 women's
dressing room. 11 tub for cold
bath. 12 tepidarium.
13 caldarium. 14 open-air
courtyard.
• The main entrance is on the via delle Terme.
• The baths were for visitors from outside the city
and were smaller than the Stabian baths
• The forum baths were built in the early period of
Romanisation after Sulla’s attack, paid from
public funds.
• They have all the features of Roman baths –
separate areas for men and women, three bath
areas and dressing areas. Each room was
heated, and the walls were decorated.
• Go to the CD web page for baths and click on
the hot spots for more images of these baths.
Thermal /
central
baths
Suburban baths
– overlooking
the seafront
The thermal baths – urban or forum baths of
Herculaneum
1. Entry to men’s
section
2. Apodyterium of the
men’s section
3. Frigidarium
4. Tepidarium
5. Entry to the palaestra
7. Palaestra
8. Entry to the women’s
section
9. Hall of the women’s
section
10. Apodyterium
11. Tepidarium
12 Frigidarium of the
section of the women
13. Service entry
14. Praefurium
Suburban baths of Herculaneum
Entry
Small baths. No separate areas for men and women.
Frigidarium of the Suburban baths
of Herculaneum
A visit to the baths
• The entry area. Baths were meeting
places for friends, politics and business.
The baths combined health, social
activities and lobbying.
• The baths had vaulted entry areas and the
men’s entry area and change room was
elegant.
The suburban baths at Herculaneum had a vestibule with a marble basin, herm and
overhead a light well
The men’s entry to the Forum
baths of Herculaneum
The entrance with light well
and font, at the central
baths of Herculaneum.
Apodyterium
• The waiting room was
finely decorated. In the
urban baths at
Herculaneum the floor
was marble with white
marble benches. Stucco
decorations covered the
walls.
• In the change room
(apodyterium), clothes
were left on shelves.
The Apodyterium of the Pompeiian
Forum Baths
The palaestra
• The men entered the exercise area first
(palaestra) where they could swim in the
piscinum (large pool), play a game of
bowls or work up a sweat at wrestling or
running.
• Attendants then scraped the dirt and sand
using strigils, and gave a massage.
• Before entering the caldarium, the men
acclimatised themselves to heat by using
the tepidarium.
PALAESTRA OF STABIAN BATHS
Bathers at larger baths could also exercise in the palaestra facilities such as
playing ballgames in the rectangular court and swimming in an open air pool.
Piscina and change room of the Stabian
Baths – with artist’s drawing.
Bath tools
strigil
oil
• Having exercised, a man was ready for the
baths.
• The hot bath was used first, then the cold
• The tepidarium was an intermediate bath
used to become acclimatised to heat
before the hot bath, and to cool down
before the cold bath.
.
1. Caldarium
(hot room) of
the Forum
Baths
Hot
baths
The bather first entered
the hot room, heated to
40 degrees celcius.
The hot bath is a
rectangular marble
lined tub. The room
contained a cold water
basin for bathers to
drink. Because the floor
was hot, clogs were
worn. Some bathers
used the hot pool,
others sat in the steam
The ribs on the ceiling drew water
condensation away from the centre
Artist’s impression showing
the luxurious decoration
The hypercaust
or heating
system. Water
for the hot and
warm baths was
heated in three
tanks. The
heated air in this
boiler room
circulated under
the floor and
between the
walls. Notice the
floors are raised
on brick
columns.
Under-floor heating, and air ducts built into the walls, meant the whole room was
full of steam when in use. Grooves in the ceiling allowed condensation to be
channelled to the walls, rather than drip onto bathers. Cold water was piped into
the basin at the centre so that bathers could cool off when they wanted.
Remains of
heating
system
Stabian
baths
WOMEN’S CALDARIUM
Sunken tub in women’s caldarium
Tepidarium of the Forum baths in
Pompeii
2. Tepedarium.
This was a moderately hot
room in which the bathers
became used to heat before
entering the Caldarium, and
cooled down after the
Caldiarum. Bathers could
have a massage of oil and
scrap dead skin off with a
strigil.
Tepidarium- suburban baths Herculaneum
3. Frigidariumforum baths
Pompeii
Finally the bather
cooled down
completely with a
cold bath.
The frigidarium
was a round room
with a domed
ceiling and a
circular cold bath.
.
The stucco decorations – in a state
of disrepair
The Stabian baths walls were
covered with idyllic garden scenes
WOMEN’S BATHS
The quality of decoration of the
public baths is shown by this
mosaic of a Triton surrounded by
fish and dolphins, from the
women’s section of the Urban
Baths of Herculaneum.
Women’s caldarium
Floor of women’s change room in
central baths of Herculaneum