The Baths of Caracalla () in Rome, Italy, were the city's second largest Roman public bath complex, or thermae, after the Baths of Diocletian. The baths were likely built between AD 212 (or 211) and 216/217, during the reigns of emperors Septimius Severus and Caracalla. They were in operation until the 530s and then fell into disuse and ruin.
Both during and since their operation as baths, they served as inspiration for many other notable buildings, ancient and modern, such as the Baths of Diocletian, the Basilica of Maxentius, the original Pennsylvania Station in New York City, Chicago Union Station and the Senate of Canada Building. Artworks recovered from the ruins include famous sculptures such as the Farnese Bull and the Farnese Hercules.
Today, the Baths of Caracalla are a tourist attraction.
History
Construction
Construction of the baths was probably initiated by Emperor Septimius Severus and completed during the reign of his son, Caracalla. They were inaugurated in AD 216. The baths were located in the southern area of the city, Regio XII Piscina Publica, where members of the Severan family commissioned other construction works: the Via Nova leading to the baths and the Septizodium on nearby Palatine Hill. The site chosen for the baths formerly belonged to a vast garden estate known as the , developed by Gaius Asinius Pollio during the reign of Augustus. The Farnese Bull sculptural group that was later moved into the Baths of Caracalla was already present at the site in the time of Pollio, who had imported it to display in his gardens.
Caracalla appropriated the estate of Pollio to build his baths; the existing structures were demolished in some cases to their ground floors, filled in with earth, and incorporated into the foundations of the new complex. The remains of one of these structures, a noble (house), were excavated initially by Francesco Ficoroni in the mid-18th century and again in 1860–1867 by G.B. Guidi. Recently this two-storey domus deep below the baths, built in 134–138 during the reign of Hadrian,Frescoed domus under Baths of Caracalla opens http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/64499 and partially demolished in 206 has been opened to the public revealing lavishly decorated frescoed ceilings and a lararium, a room dedicated to Roman and Egyptian gods.An Ancient Home Found Beneath the Baths of Caracalla Is Now on Display https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/baths-of-caracalla-unveils-frescoes-from-time-of-hadrian-180980332/
For work to have been mostly completed in the time of Caracalla, workers would have had to have installed over of material every day for six years.
Work on additional decorations continued under Caracalla's successors Elagabalus and Severus Alexander. The baths were likely mostly finished by 235. Later renovations were conducted under Aurelian (after a fire) and by Diocletian. Under Constantine the Great the caldarium was modified.
The building was heated by a hypocaust, a system of burning coal and wood underneath the ground to heat water provided by a dedicated aqueduct. The baths were free and open to the public.
Late antiquity
The baths were fully functional in the 5th century when they were referred to as one of the seven wonders of Rome. Olympiodorus of Thebes mentions a capacity of 1,600. This is interpreted to refer to the maximum number of simultaneous visitors, as the daily capacity is thought to have been 6,000 to 8,000 bathers.
The baths remained in use until the 6th century. In the mid-4th century, a Christian pilgrimage site came into being, known as the , close to the baths near the Church of Santi Nereo e Achilleo. The baths thus became useful to pilgrims and the Church community for their water supply. In 537, during the Gothic War, King Vitiges of the Ostrogoths laid siege to Rome and severed the city's water supply. Shortly thereafter, the baths were abandoned. Located too far away from the still-populated area of Rome, the baths were mostly disused but in the 6th and 7th centuries were apparently used for the burials of pilgrims who died after being cared for in the nearby xenodochium of Santi Nereo e Achilleo. Some simple tombs from this era have been found inside the bath area.
Popes Adrian I, Sergius II, and Nicholas I may have had some work done on the aqueduct through the 9th century.
The earthquake of 847 destroyed much of the building, along with many other Roman structures.DeLaine, Janet (1997), The Baths of Caracalla: A study in the design, construction, and economics of large-scale building projects in Imperial Rome, (1st ed.), London: JRA, p. 169.
Other uses
At least since the 12th century, the baths were used as a quarry for construction materials, and of decorative pieces to be reused in churches and palaces (e.g., in Pisa Cathedral and Santa Maria in Trastevere).
During the 14th century, the area was used for vineyards and gardens. In the 15th century, Pope Pius II used stone from the Baths in the construction of the Loggia of the Benediction at St. Peter's Basilica. In 1524, Pope Clement VII granted an excavation license to Cardinal Lorenzo Pucci to remove unlimited quantities of columns, marble, travertine and other ancient stone from the Baths of Caracalla for a new palace that the Cardinal was building near St. Peter's. In the mid-16th century, Clement's successor Pope Paul III had excavations conducted in the area during the construction of his new villa. Substantial architectural decoration remained standing at this time, as documented in the drawings of the Renaissance architects Andrea Palladio, Giovanni Antonio Dosio, and Antonio da Sangallo the Elder.
The excavations of Paul III between 1545 and 1547 uncovered many large statues made of marble and bronze, as well as innumerable architectural fragments, lamps, intaglios, and cameos. The quantity of materials was so great that a museum was created to house the collection, known as the Museo Farnese (relocated to the Real Museo Borbonico in the late 18th century). The Pope granted the area to the Roman Seminary of the Jesuits. It was used as a playground for children. Philip Neri may have brought children from his oratory here—he is believed to have commissioned the fresco Madonna supported by an angel still located in the natatio.
Between the 16th and 18th centuries, interest in the structure was rekindled, and several famous architects made drawings of the ruins (Andrea Palladio, Giovanni Battista Falda, Giambattista Nolli, and Giuliano da Sangallo).
The aqueduct serving the baths was in use up to the 19th century. The Aqua Antoniniana aqueduct, a branch of the earlier Aqua Marcia also worked on under Diocletian, was specifically built to serve the baths.
Excavation and restoration
In 1824, excavations at the baths were conducted by Count Egidio di Velo, whose findings included the mosaics now at the Vatican Museums. Further work followed by Luigi Canina in the frigidarium (until the mid-19th century) and then by Battista Guidi (1860–1867).
From 1866 to 1869, restoration work in the central part of the complex revealed a torso of Hercules, porphyry columns, and figure-adorned capitals. In 1870, the area became the property of the Italian government, and Pietro Rosa conducted excavations in the eastern palaestra. In 1878–79, Giuseppe Fiorelli discovered mosaics in the caldarium and western palaestra.
From the early 20th century, excavations expanded into the outer areas of the complex and downward, revealing the subterranean passages, including a Mithraeum (see below). Systematic work on the galleries, started in the 18th and 19th centuries, resumed after 1901. On the eastern side, more work was done in the late 1930s, when an opera stage was installed in the caldarium. Except for some sketches, no documentation of these restorations survives.
Further restoration work took place in the 1980s, when thick vegetation and illegally built houses in the area were cleared away. The southern wall with its cisterns, the southwestern library, and the octagonal hall known as the Temple of Jupiter were restored at that point. In 1998–9, the opera stage was dismantled, and modern visitor facilities were added to the baths. They reopened to the public in 2001.
The baths were the only archaeological site in Rome to be damaged by an earthquake near L'Aquila in 2009. They experienced minor damage in August 2016 from an earthquake in central Italy.
Description Overview
The bath complex covered approximately . The complex is rectangular, measuring 337 m × 328 m. Its construction involved the moving of a substantial amount of earth, as parts of the nearby hills had to be removed or leveled into platforms. Several million bricks were used in the construction. The baths contained at least 252 columns, 16 of which had a height of over 12 m.
Water was carried to the baths by the then newly constructed Acqua Antoniniana from the major Acqua Marcia. The exact path of the aqueduct supplying the baths is not known, as only a few segments have been discovered. The aqueduct connected to the southern side of the baths, where it filled 18 cisterns. These, in turn, were connected by lead pipes with the baths proper.
The baths followed the "great Imperial baths" blueprint for Roman baths. They were more of a leisure centre than just a series of baths. Besides being used for bathing, the complex also offered facilities for taking walks, reading/studying, exercise, and body care. The main building stood in the centre with no connections to the surrounding walls, which housed the cisterns, two symmetrical libraries (south), two large exedras (east and west) and tabernae (shops) to the north. The surviving library measures 38 m × 22 m. Between the outer wall and the central complex were gardens (xystus).
The axis of the baths was laid out in a northeast to southwest fashion to make use of the sun's heat. The caldarium faced southwest, the frigidarium northeast. Overall, the bath area was arranged along a single linear axis. However, dressing rooms and palaestra were arranged symmetrically on both sides of the building, giving easier access and facilitating the flow of people in and out of the thermal area, thus increasing the number of potential users of the baths.
The bath main building was 214 m × 110 m and the height to the top of the roof line was 44 m (145 ft); it covered and could hold an estimated 1,600 bathers.
Interior
The baths were the second to have a public library within the complex. Like other public libraries in Rome, there were two separate and equally sized rooms or buildings; one for Greek language texts and one for Latin language texts.DeLaine,(1997), The baths of Caracalla,(1st ed.), London: JRA. p. 191. The surviving library had three walls covered by niches (a total of 32) that housed the books. A larger niche in the middle of the southern wall likely contained a statue. A masonry ledge in front of the three other walls probably served as a bench. The floor is made from marble.
The baths consisted of a central frigidarium (cold room) measuring under three groin vaults high, a double pool tepidarium (medium), and a circular caldarium (hot room) in diameter, as well as two palaestras (gyms where wrestling and boxing were practiced). The northeastern end of the bath building contained a natatio or swimming pool. The caldarium had seven pools, the frigidarium four, the tepidarium two. Next to the caldarium were saunas (laconica).