Pompeii excavation reveals large private thermal complex built 2,000 years ago
A picture released by the Pompeii Archaeological Park Press Office, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, showing a private bathhouse recently discovered in the Pompeii archaeological site. (Credit: Courtesy of the MIC - Archeological Park of Pompeii)
Pompeii, the ancient Roman city buried by ash and lava in 70 AD, has unearthed a new treasure: a large bath-complex built 2,000 years ago.
According to the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, the private bathhouse was found during excavations currently being carried out in the city.
Bathhouse built in Pompeii 2,000 years ago discovered
What they're saying:
The park said the complex is "one of the largest and most well-structured private baths to have been discovered in a Pompeiandomus."
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(Credit: Courtesy of the MIC - Archaeological Park of Pompeii)
"Everything was designed to stage a ‘show,’ in which the owner was the center of attention," Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, said in a statement. "The Third Style paintings with themes from the Trojan War and scenes depicting athletes in the peristyle must have lent these spaces a Greek atmosphere, in other words an environment full of culture and erudition as well as relaxation."
What we know:
The baths, which consisted of hot, warm and cold baths in the manner of a spa, and a changing room could hold up to thirty people, judging from the benches, the park noted.
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(Credit: Courtesy of the MIC - Archaeological Park of Pompeii)
Zuchtriegel said wealthy habitants of Pompeii often used first to take a bath and then to have a banquet, so the private spa complex allowed to do that altogether inside the same house.
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(Credit: Courtesy of the MIC - Archaeological Park of Pompeii)
In addition, the wall’s decorations demonstrate that the owner of the residence must have been an influential character for several decades and a member of the city’s elite in the last few decades of its existence.
The backstory:
The baths were unearthed in the so-called Regio IX, a large central area of Pompeii park still unexplored, where major archaeological excavations are revealing new aspects of Pompeians' daily life.
Excavation process
What they're saying:
Anna Onesti, the director of excavations, said the excavation of the rooms "employed an innovative technique that made it possible to reach the floor level without needing to dismantle the unstable architectural features of the colonnade".
The use of a transitory support structure enabled the whole colonnade to be excavated, leaving all the masonry in its original place.
The backstory:
The initial results of these excavations were presented in December: the frieze with the composition of still lifes depicting game and seafood provided for the enjoyment of the guests during the banquets.
Recently, archaeologists working in the same area found a bakery, a laundry shop, two villas and the bones of three people who died during the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which destroyed both the ancient Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.