Pompeii, the ancient Roman city buried by ash and lava in AD 79, has unearthed a new treasure – a private bathhouse built 2,000 years ago, decorated with magnificent mosaics and decorated with a series of hot, Hot and cold rooms are equipped in the style of a spa.
“We have perhaps the largest thermal complex in a private home in Pompeii,” said Gabrielzuchtriegel, director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park. “Members of Pompeii’s ruling class set up huge rooms in their homes to host banquets.
“Their functions were to build consensus, promote electioneering and make deals. It was an opportunity to show off the wealth in which they lived and also enjoy a nice thermal treatment,” he said.
The baths were excavated in the so-called Regio IX, a large, yet unexplored central area of Pompeii Park where major archaeological excavations are revealing new aspects of Pompeians’ daily life.
Recently, archaeologists working in the same area found a bakery, a laundry, two villas and the bones of three people who died in the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius that destroyed the ancient Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
At the time of the eruption, around 13,000 people lived in Pompeii. The remains lie around 23 kilometers southeast of Naples.
Bath before the banquet
Footage of the excavation site shows dusty walls decorated with red, black and yellow stripes and a large rectangular pool, complete with what appear to be curved stone steps or seats in the corner of the bath itself.
zuchtriegel said wealthy residents of Pompeii often took a bath first and then held a banquet, so the private spa complex allowed them to do this in the same house.
“There is space for about 30 people who could do the entire routine and that could also be done in public baths. So there is the calidarium, a very warm environment and also a large tub of cold water,” he said.
