Pompeii, the ancient Roman city covered in ash and lava in AD 79, has discovered a new treasure — a private bathhouse built 2,000 years ago, decorated with lavish mosaics and equipped with a series of hot, warm and cold rooms in the manner of a spa.
“Here we have perhaps the largest thermal complex in a private house in Pompeii,” said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park. “Members of the ruling class of Pompeii set up vast spaces in their homes to hold banquets.
“They had the function of creating a consensus, promoting the election campaign, concluding deals. It was an opportunity for them to show the wealth in which they lived, but also to have a nice heat treatment,” he said.
The baths were discovered in the so-called Regio IX, a large central area of the Pompeii park still unexplored, where major archaeological excavations are revealing new aspects of Pompeian daily life.
Zuchtriegel said the look is reminiscent of scenes from a Roman novel Satyriconwhere banquets and baths were central to the display of wealth and status.
Excavations in Pompeii have revealed one of the largest complexes of private baths in the city, which was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The complex contains a private residence connected to the banquet hall, as well as a private bathroom.
Recently, archaeologists working in the same area found a bakery, a laundry, two villas and the bones of three people who died during the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which destroyed the ancient Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
At the time of the eruption, Pompeii was home to about 13,000 people. The ruins of the city lie about 23 kilometers southeast of Naples, and the remains of more than 1,000 victims have been found in excavations over the years.
The remains of 2 people found in the excavation
Images from the excavation site show dusty walls decorated with colorful stripes or blocks of red, black or yellow and a large rectangular basin, along with what appear to be curved stone steps or seats in the corner of the bath itself.
Zuchtriegel said wealthy Pompeii residents often bathed first and then held a banquet, so the private spa complex allowed them to do so in the same house.
“There’s room for about 30 people who could do the whole routine, and it could be done in the public baths. So there’s a calidarium, a very warm environment and also a big tub of cold water,” he said.
A private residence with a swimming pool contained another discovery for archaeologists: the remains of two people, a woman between 35 and 50 years old holding jewelry and coins, and a younger man.
