Baths of Caracalla

The Baths of Caracalla (Italian: Terme di 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.

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 horti Asiniani, 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 domus (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, 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. For work to have been mostly completed in the time of Caracalla, workers would have had to have installed over 2,000 tonnes (2,200 short tons) 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.

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 titulus Fasciolae, 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

Aquarium data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).