In 2015, a new research project under the direction of Monika Trümper, “Bathing Culture and the Development of Urban Space: Case Study Pompeii”, was initiated within the research framework of the TOPOI Excellence Cluster 264. The project focuses on the Republican Baths (VIII 5,36) and the Stabian Baths (VII 1,8). In September 2015, rooms Q, R and N1-4 of the Stabian Baths were cleaned and all surface debris that had accumulated since the last excavations by Hans Eschebach removed. The aim of this work was to verify Eschebach’s hypothesis that a Greek type balaneion existed in the NW part of the Stabian baths during an earlier period. Reopening of Eschebach’s trenches made it possible to gain some impression of the state of preservation of intact contexts and to reinterpret these. In the NE corner of room Q, it was possible to identify a context interpreted by Eschebach as an Archaic street level, which actually is a simple level of natural soil, cut by the construction of two channels dating to the late Hellenistic period. These channels are overlain by four levels of consecutive opus signinum pavements. The lowest of these appears to belong to the same phase as the canals, while the uppermost and therefore latest, preserved in the NW corner and, above all, in the SE corner of the room, belongs to the latest period of use of room Q as part of the Stabian Baths in the form visible today. The penultimate (third) pavement was cut by a lead pipe that served the nearby natatio. The second pavement appears to be contemporary with a strip sloping towards the channels from W to E that was paved with terracotta tiles. Eschebach saw this feature as belonging to the baths, but it appears actually to have been part of an earlier Hellenistic atrium or peristyle house, also identified by Eschebach in this part of the site. Cleaning of room R uncovered a lavapesto pavement and part of an opus incertum wall running in a NE to SW direction. Based on its orientation, this also appears to belong to the Hellenistic house. Eschebach noted remains of an opus incertum wall running in an E-W direction. As it contained pappamonte pieces, he dated the wall to the Archaic period. Cleaning showed, however, that this wall was not constructed from pappamonte, but contained traces of lava and therefore is not Archaic in date. The situation in rooms N1 and N4 is even more problematic: Eschebach identified these spaces as bathing cells with hip-bathtubs, dated to the 5th century BC, which would have been transformed into individual immersion baths during the 4th or 3rd century BC. Cleaning of the rooms showed no traces of any of the structures listed by Eschebach, with the exception of balustrades that separate off parts of the rooms. These, however, show no traces of any waterproofing whatsoever; nor is such material found anywhere in the rooms. Therefore, the interpretation as individual bathing spaces can no longer be maintained.

In March 2016, research was carried out in the Stabian Baths in order to investigate the following hypotheses, outlined in previous scholarship (unpublished research by H. Sulze in 1940/41; monographs by H. Eschebach 1970, 1979): the development of the entire lot in 7 phases, including an Archaic fortification wall with ditch around the “Altstadt” (6th c BC) and several other Archaic features (street, tomb etc.), and a Greek-type balaneion with palaestra from the 5th c BC onwards that was gradually developed into a Roman-type bath building; the latter believed partially ot have coexisted with an atrium-peristyle house. Two different methods were chosen for a reassessment of the history of the building: stratigraphic excavation; and an intensive architectural survey in order to reassess the typology and relationship of walls, as well as the typology and chronology of pavements and stucco decorations. The following areas were excavated: 1.Rooms N1 and N2, the presumed cells with bathtubs of the Greek balaneion: reexcavation of N1 and complete new excavation of N2 did not yield any evidence of bathtubs; the entire complex of cells was only built in the 2nd c BC, most likely together with the eastern section of the Stabian Baths. 2.Room S: the existence of a lithostroton pavement that belonged to a room of the atrium-peristyle house could be confirmed, but no earlier, presumably Archaic levels and structures were found. 3.Praefurnium VIII: since no precise date had ever been proposed for the complex with 3 cauldrons, a trench was dug along its NW-corner; so far, no original levels have been reached although no previous soundings are known for this area. 4.Palaestra: two trenches in the NW-corner (8 m x 6.2 m) and in the western central part (c. 10 m 4.5 m) revealed no traces of an Archaic fortification or ditch; walls and pavements of the atrium-peristyle-house, structures pertaining to the palaestra, and a large drainage channel that had already been explored by Maiuri, were identified. The precise chronological sequence of these features remains to be determined. The combination of architectural survey and excavation showed that the developmental model proposed by Eschebach requires significant revision. No coherent building can be reconstructed before the 2nd c BC when the bath building and the atrium-peristyle house were built. The bath building saw at least three major remodeling phases (shortly after 80 BC and twice in the 1st c AD).

The March 2017 field season of the project “Bathing Culture and the Development of Urban Space: Case Study Pompeii”, part of the research framework of the TOPOI Excellence Cluster 264, returned to the Stabian Baths (VII 1, 8). Excavations were carried out in four trenches across three main areas. A trench in corridor H (numbering according to Eschebach 1979, pl. 2), connecting the palaestra with the Vicolo del Lupanare, provided new insights regarding the transition from a private house to the Baths complex in the SW corner of insula VII 1. Re-excavation of an old trench in the SE-corner of room VI yielded a hitherto undocumented praefurnium that served to heat the hypocaust system of the men’s caldarium. Continuation of work carried out in 2016 to the west of the furnace in room VII reached an AD 79 collapse of the furnace. By extending a trench excavated by H. Eschebach in the eastern service tract (L16A), it was possible to confirm that there was no stylobate and channel of an earlier palaestra, as reconstructed by Eschebach. The layers associated with construction of the women’s section (IX-XI) were dug directly into natural soils at the site. Similar findings were made in room VI (for the men’s section) and in 2016 in rooms N1 and N2 (for the northwestern section). As in 2016, the project applied both traditional documentation techniques as well as state of the art digital modelling technologies. Parallel to the excavations, standing remains assessments were made of all parts of the Baths relevant to the function of the heating system in order to allow for a detailed reassessment. The water supply and disposal systems were also recorded and analyzed in detail. As such, the constructional and developmental history as understood on the basis of the 2016 data can now be extended to include practical and operational aspects. The work carried out in the 2016 and 2017 seasons showed that no palaestra with Greek baths of the 5th century BC ever existed on the terrain of the Stabian Baths, as had been postulated by Eschebach in his monograph on the Stabian Baths (1979). Indeed, the Stabian Baths were evidently constructed more or less to the same plan as visible today in the 2nd half of the 2nd century BC. The extension of the Stabian Baths towards the west, across the entire east-west extension of the insula of VII 1, followed immediately upon the abandonment of the house. Once evaluation of the finds material is complete, it will be possible to provide a closer date for this development. Despite extension of the work carried out in 2016, there remains no trace of any Altstadt fortification, making it highly unlikely that one ever existed in this part of Pompeii. The heating and water supply systems of the Stabian Baths, and the central firing area around the furnace between the men’s and women’s caldaria (VI, VII) in particular, evidently had a far more complicated developmental history than currently understood. They were modified repeatedly in order to ensure optimal and state of the art functionality of the baths.

In March and April 2018, a field season of the project “Bathing Culture and the Development of Urban Space: Case Study Pompeii”, running within the research framework of the TOPOI Excellence Cluster 264 of the German Research Foundation (DFG), was carried out in the Stabian Baths (VII 1, 8) at Pompeii in order to clarify questions regarding their early development, further assess the phasing of standing remains and complete the catalogue of all employed building materials and decorations. Excavations were carried out in 8 areas of the Stabian Baths, both reopening areas investigated by earlier researchers and opening new areas: in the praefurnium, the palaestra, the northern part of the complex and the service sector. Three trenches in the northern sector of the baths (L, M’, L16; room numbering according to Eschebach 1979, pl. 2) confirmed that the first phase of the baths included all currently visible parts with the exception of a domus in the SW corner of the plot. Excavations in two large areas in the palaestra, complimenting the work carried out in 2016, have shown several phases of the early occupation of the site, with northern and western walls of earlier palaestrae as well as further evidence for the above-mentioned domus. The trenches excavated in 2016, 2017, and 2018 in all accessible areas of the Stabian Baths from W to E now show not only the development and reworking of the natural terrain, but also the complex development of the different phases of the baths. Like in 2016 and 2017, no trace of any Altstadt fortification could be identified this year, in the palaestra and room L. Work in the East wing (VI, VIII) aimed to reconstruct the development of the heating system in different phases of the baths. It could be shown that at the time of eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 the main furnace of the baths (VI) was not in function and that this crucial area of the baths had been remodelled at least three times. A feature in room VIII that had previously been interpreted as a furnace for the women’s caldarium could be identified as part of an unusual, probably somewhat experimental water supply system that was implemented when the baths were connected to the aqueduct in the early Imperial period. Cleaning of parts of the Natatio (D) and the Frigidarium (IV) provided further information regarding the water management, which certainly functioned for some time after the earthquake of AD 62.

From August 30 to October 8, 2021, a field season of the project “Bathing Culture and the Development of Urban Space: Case Study Pompeii”, was carried out in the Stabian Baths (VII 1, 8) at Pompeii in order to clarify three main questions: a) the shape of the west wall of the palaestra in phase 1 of the baths; b) the development of devices for heating and water management in room VIII; and c) the construction date and development of the house to the west of the baths, which was only integrated into the baths after the earthquake of AD 62 when it was transformed into the currently visible complex with natatio and nymphaea. Excavations were carried out in 9 areas, both reopening areas investigated by earlier researchers and opening new areas: the palaestra; room VIII; tabernae 2, 4, 54, 60, 61; corridors 59 and H’. In the SW corner of the palaestra, a large round room with a diameter of about 8m was found which served most likely as a laconicum in the first phase of the baths. It was later cut by a large drainage channel that came from the natatio and ran from NW to SE (fourth phase of the baths). The large drainage channel that runs from N to S through the middle of the palaestra and had been found in earlier seasons (2016, 2018) was revealed at the eastern border of the trench (third phase). In room VIII, several service installations were uncovered that can be assigned to the two last phases of the baths. When the men’s caldarium was provided with an apse in the west and a labrum in phase 3, two staircases were built in the SW and SE corners of the room. Both allowed the servicing of the new installations above ground and underground. A channel running from E to W to the north of the staircases drained water from the eastern praefurnium section. This channel was replaced by a much larger example further N after AD 62 (fourth phase). The excavation of the service section was complemented by the work of speleologists Mauro Palumbo, Mario Cristiano, and Marco Ruocco who investigated all accessible water channels, cisterns, and the hypocaust system of the baths. The house that coexisted with the baths until AD 62 was explored by excavating the palaestra , as well as the aforementioned tabernae and corridors. Several razed walls and different pavements were found that belonged to at least eight confined rooms (several cubicula, a vestibule, and other rooms) and two large spaces (possibly an atrium and a peristyle). The pavements include high quality examples of decorated opus tessellatum mosaics and opus signinum floors in the closed rooms and lithostrota in the large spaces. Coins found in the fills that served to raise the floors for the tabernae of the baths can be dated to AD 64 and confirm that the house was destroyed and abandoned after the earthquake of AD 62.

From May 30 to June 24, 2022, a field season of the project “Bathing Culture and the Development of Urban Space: Case Study Pompeii”, was carried out in the Stabian Baths to clarify two questions: a) the construction date, development, and plan of the house to the west of the baths, which was only integrated into the baths after the earthquake of AD62 when it was transformed into the currently visible complex with natatio and nymphaea; b) the development and function of the southern tabernae, which presumably belonged to the baths from the beginning. Excavations were carried out in 8 areas, both reopening areas investigated by earlier researchers and opening new areas: tabernae 3, 6, 7, 52, 53, 56, 57; corridor H’. The house that coexisted with the baths until AD62 had already been partially explored in previous years. This year, further razed walls and different pavements were found. These allow to reconstruct a large atrium that was flanked by 3–4 rooms and a vestibule in the south; 3 cubicula and an ala in the west; and a tablinum and triclinium in the north. The atrium was most likely complemented by a peristyle courtyard, of which only the pavements of the porticoes and an underground channel survive, however. The pavements include simple cement floors, decorated cement floors, and a broad range of high quality black-and-white or polychrome tessellatum mosaics, with regularly cut small tesserae or irregularly cut large tesserae and pieces of different kinds of marble. Like in 2021, coins of Vespasian were found in the fills that served to raise the floors for the tabernae of the baths, confirming that the house was abandoned after the earthquake of AD62. The stratigraphy and typology of the pavements suggest that the house was built around 50BC. A wall made of Sarno limestone and several pozzi were discovered under the pavements of the house; these could have belonged to a predecessor that may have been built even before the construction of the baths after 130/125BC. Excavation of tabernae 6 and 7 showed that they belonged to the first phase of the Stabian Baths because their walls were founded on the same type of earth mortar as many other walls of the original baths. The floor level was about 60–70cm lower than today, however, and the north wall of taberna 6 included a large door to the complex with laconicum in the southwest corner of the palaestra that was found in 2021. Various floor levels and installations were discovered in both tabernae. A turtle that was pregnant with one egg was found between the two lowest floors of taberna 6, next to an installation in the southwest corner. In the center of taberna 7, the large drainage channel that ran from the latrine of the baths through the palaestra to the Via dell’Abbondanza was excavated; it was covered with a vault of caementitium which in previous excavations has been attributed to the channel’s construction phase in the early Imperial period.