A Once in a Century Find: Private Roman Bath Complex Unearthed in Pompeii
Near the center of the Roman city of Pompeii lies a large area known to archaeologists and researchers as Regio IX. This area is largely unexcavated, overlooked in favour of the grander public buildings which were prioritized as the city gave up her secrets. But, as recent discoveries have shown, there is much hidden beneath the ashen surface here.
The latest find, described by the BBC as a “once in a century” discovery, is a large heated bathhouse, perhaps the largest in a private dwelling in all of Pompeii. 2,000 years old, the bathhouse features intricate mosaic decorations and separate hot, cold, warm rooms.
Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Pompeii archaeological park, offered further details to the Associated Press as to how such an extravagant complex would have been used. “They had the function of creating consensus, promoting an election campaign, closing deals. It was an opportunity to show the wealth in which they lived and also to have a nice thermal treatment,” he said.
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The house was owned by a member of Pompeii’s elite ruling class and such individuals would look upon such things as status symbols. Roman society placed great importance in the home and the ultra-rich of the Roman Empire would created these vast spaces to host banquets, official functions, and of course orgies.
Zuchtriegel noted that Romans liked to start with a bath, and then move on to the feasting. This newly discovered building would allow them to do so all under one roof.
“There is room for about 30 people who could do the whole routine, and that could also be done in public baths. So there is the calidarium, a very warm environment and also a large tub with cold water,” he said.
Pompeii is famously one of the best-preserved cities from the Roman Empire. Destroyed by the eruption of nearby Vesuvius in AD 79 along with several other towns, it remained hidden under a carpet of ash, its occupants frozen in place as they fled the terror. Abandoned after the catastrophe, it remained almost entirely unexcavated until the 18th century.
Today it is a UNESCO world heritage site, described as “the only archaeological site in the world that provides a complete picture of an ancient Roman city.” And as the excavations in Regio IX continue, it has become clear that this ancient Roman city still has much that is waiting to be revealed.
Header Image: A room in the newly unearthed bathhouse, 2,000 years old and in an astonishing state of preservation. Source: Archaeological Park of Pompeii Press Office via AP.
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