Frigidarium

vol. VII p.103-104

Frigidarium

(Vitr. V 11, 2), cella frigidaria (Plin. ep. V 6, 25. 26), in Roman baths it was the room which contained the cold bath. On the position of this room in the bathing complexes, see vol. II p.2750ff. In the extant complexes, the frigidarium isn’t always separated from the apodyterium (see there); it is even more common to find one or more baths built in and attached to the apodyterium for cold bathing, which could then probably also be called frigidaria (Vitr. loc. cit.). <10> So, in the largest facility in Pompeii, the so-called central baths, where the apodyterium contains a pool occupying the whole width of the room on the side furthest away from the windows roughly 7 x 3m large, which cold water would flow into in three streams from niches in the walls. There’s something very similar to this in a large private bathing facility (a female bath?), Röm. Mitt. V 1890, 131 Taf. VI 1, 17. <20> Likewise, in the female sections of both of the other public baths in Pompeii (the Stabian baths and the baths at the forum), the built-in bathing pool is attached to the apodyterium in one corner. Also, in the Stabian baths, this was first built in later; in more ancient times, it would only be possible to take a cold bath there in portable basins.

In contrast, in the male sections of these two public baths, the frigidarium was its own room, accessible from the apodyterium, <30> circular (diam. roughly 6m), with a dome-shaped ceiling, apart from a narrow pathway it was almost entirely taken up by a pool which the water would flow into in a stream from the wall, with an opening on its upper edge to allow water to flow out at the same rate as it was flowing in, and an opening at its base for emptying; in the walls, there were four niches shaped like apses, through which those who were drying themselves off could look at those who were still bathing. True to its name, the room was cold. This was because the dome in the ceiling contained a rather large round opening, <40> which couldn’t be closed, but it was extended towards the south with a long rectangular cut-out in order to let in as much sun as possible. The walls were decorated with pictures of plants, and the domes had stars on a blue background; this implies that it was intended to give people the impression of being outside in the middle of a bushes. We also come across a specific room being used as a frigidarium (quadrilateral) in a private bathing complex, perhaps the male baths for the female baths mentioned above (Röm. Mitt. III 1888, 203, Taf. VI 1, 7), <50> and we also find one (round, with a uniquely shaped pool) in a private house’s small baths (reg. VI 15, 2: Bull. d. Inst. 1874, 151). This was also the case in Pliny the Younger’s villa in Tuscany: Plin. ep. V 6, 25.

In the two public baths mentioned above, the impression of the baths being outside given by their decoration is also realised in some houses in Pompeii. <60> The most complete is in the ‘Casa delle nozze d’argento’ (Röm. Mitt. VIII 1893, 51f. Mau Pompeji in Leben und Kunst 294), where you could leave the apodyterium by a door on the side into a pool (3.85 x 3.0m) in the open air, which would doubtless have been surrounded by bushes in antiquity. In other cases, the frigidarium is an uncovered courtyard inside the house. This is the case in the ‘Casa del Centenario’ (Overbeck Pompeji⁴ 358. Bull. d. Inst. 1881, 229f.), <page break 103/104> where one end of a 9.50 x 4.50m large courtyard is taken up by a 2.50 x 4m large built-in pool on one side. Near the pool, a 3.65 x 3.11m large room had a protective cover which was embedded into the wall on one side, and held up by two columns on the other. In contrast, in the so-called Villa of Diomedes (Overbeck Pompeji⁴ 372. Mau Pompeji in Leben und Kunst 352), <10> a much smaller pool (2.17 x 2.85) has a protective cover, but the small triangular courtyard is bordered by a narrow collonade on two sides. Similar to the frigidaria in the public baths, the painting on the third wall which the pool is attached to was supposed to give the impression of the pool extending even further into the middle of a forest or a garden.

In the large bathing complexes in Rome, the frigidarium and apodyterium are combined into one room. <20> It is a large quadrilateral room which has four bathing pools attached to its sides; people would be able to go to the large swimming pool from it (natatio), which was covered in the baths of Caracalla at least. For the baths of Diocletian, see the floor-plan vol. II p.2755 (2 frigidarium, 1 natatio); for the rest, see the works cited ibid. p.2747 [corrected from p.1247].

[Mau.]

This page is referenced by: Baths