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Description of the Baths (Reg VII, Ins 1, 8)
The Stabian
Baths take
their name from the fact that they lie at the intersection of the Via
Stabiana and the Via
dell'Abbondanza. They are the oldest baths in Pompeii and four
different building phases can be identified. The oldest part seems to
date from the 4th century BC and consisted of the palaestra, a series of
small rooms with tubs along its north side and a well to furnish water.
The
general layout of the baths, however, dates to the early 1st century BC
as confirmed indirectly by an inscription of the duiviri of Sulla's
colony Gaius Uulius and Publius Aninius who state that they
reconstructed the palaestra and the porticoes and created a laconicum
for sweat baths and a destrictarium for cleansing the body.
The main entrance to the baths (below) is through a wide
doorway (A) on the Via
dell'Abbondanza. The doorway opens onto the palaestra (S) (pictured
right) which has a colonnade on three sides. On the west side, in place
of the colonnade is a strip of smooth pavement with raised sides which,
according to the book 'Pompeii: its Life and Art' by Mau and Kelsey was
used for a game resembling ninepins with room (X), the players locker
room.
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The
floors of the apodyterium
and vestibule consist of rectangular slabs of grey marble, with blocks
of basalt next to the walls. The walls are plainly decorated in white
with a lower red frieze. The vaulted ceiling, in contrast, is
elaborately decorated with polychrome stuccoes featuring rosettes,
cupids, trophies and bacchic figures (below and lower right).
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A door on the north side of the apodyterium
leads to the next two rooms involved in the bathing process, the tepidarium
(L) and caldarium
(M). Both these rooms, which unfortunately are in a semi-ruinous state,
had their
flooring raised on susupensurae and their walls provided with airspaces
for the passage of hot air. The tepidarium,
unusually, has a bath at its eastern end (pictured right, with the sub
floor exposed). The caldarium
has a more conventional layout with a bath at the eastern end and a
labrum at the west.
To finish their bath, bathers would return to
the apodyterium and enter the frigidarium
(N) (pictured right). The frigidarium
consists of a circular basin framed with four semi circular niches.
This room was richly decorated with garden scenes with the domed ceiling
painted blue to represent the sky. A jet of water fell into the basin
from a niche in the upper part of the wall.
The women's baths are
entered off the east portico of the palaestra (pictured below) by way
of a long ambulatory (R). Originally there was no link between the
women's baths and the palaestra, entry being gained through two separate
entrances (D) and (E).
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The tepidarium
(P) is accessed off the south east corner
of the apodyterium
and has survived in much better condition that the
equivalent men's room. Likewise the caldarium
(Q) which has a vaulted
ceiling with red panelled walls between stucco pilasters. At the west
end
is a shallow labrum (pictured right) on a masonry base while at the east
end is the large
hot bath veneered with white marble.
Between
the two caldaria
serving the men's and women's sections is the heating plant (coloured
blue on the plan above) where the furnaces and the three large
cylindrical boilers (one for warm, one for hot and one for very hot
water) can still be seen.
One the west side of the palaestra is a
large pool (V) which measures 13m x 8m by 1.5m deep (pictured
lower right). On either side are two rooms (U) and (W) which contained
shallow basins where athletes could give themselves a preliminary wash
before entering the pool. These rooms were
decorated with polychrome stuccoes that can be dated to the years after
the earthquake of AD62.
Room (T) in the
south west corner of the palaestra served as a dressing room for the
pool complex. On the white walls are traces of wooden lockers. In this
room, the destrictarium,
the athletes undressed and rubbed themselves with oil before engaging
in exercise. On completion of their exercise routine they would return
to scrape themselves before washing in the next room and finally
plunging in the large pool.
The decoration of the exterior walls
of rooms (T) and (U) is particularly well preserved (pictured right) and
consists of polychrome stuccoes with imitation architecture and figures
including those of Hercules and Jupiter.
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men's baths, rooms (I) - (N), open off the south east corner of the
palaestra by way of a vestibule (J) (pictured below) at the western end
of the apodyterium
(K). A door on the left (north) side gives access to the frigidarium
(N) while a second door, on the right leads to the servants waiting
room. The apodyterium
has a small annex (I) which has additional seating and a secondary
entrance (B) off the Via
Stabiana. The apodyterium
has seating round all four sides. Along the side walls is a row of
niches for storing the bathers outdoor clothing. ........
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The
women's apodyterium
(O) (pictured below) is the best preserved room of the complex. As with
the men's dressing room, the walls are lined with benches with niches
above. The floor of this vaulted room is composed of lozenge shaped
reddish glazed tiles while the walls are coated with smooth white
stucco. The women's baths had no separate frigidarium,
but a large basin for cold baths was built at the west end of the
dressing room to compensate.
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In the
portico on the north side of the palaestra is a
statue of a youth with a cloak covering his head (pictured left). The
statue, according
to Mau, is of Hermes, the god of the palaestra in his guise as
Psychopompus, the guide of departed souls.
Two further entrances
give access to the north side of the baths complex. Entrance (G) (which
is joined by a long passageway from a final entrance (H)), leads
directly to the north east corner of the palaestra while entrance (F)
leads past a series of rooms before terminating at the west side of the
north portico. These rooms to the north of
the colonnade include the latrines (Y) and a group of individual bathing
rooms (Z).
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* Images ©Jackie and Bob Dunn are
reproduced by permission from their website at
www.pompeiiinpictures.com
(Su concessione del Ministero per
i Beni e le Attività Culturali:
Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di
Napoli e Pompei)
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