- Item
- AIAC_3765
- Name
- Pompei, Republican Baths (VIII 5, 36)
- Date Range
- 4000 BC – 1000 BC
- 550 BC – 300 BC
- 300 BC – 80 BC
- 80 BC – 79
- Monuments
- Thermae
Seasons
-
AIAC_3765 - Pompei, Republican Baths (VIII 5, 36) - 2015In 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 of the German Research Foundation (DFG). The project is a research collaboration between the Freie Universität Berlin and the University of Oxford. Overall, it investigates various aspects of the development of bathing culture within the historic context of urban development of the city of Pompeii. A particular focus lies on the study of the development of baths and bathing in the late Republican period and the transition from Greek to Roman bathing traditions. In this, bathing culture is seen as a reflection of cultural identity and therefore contributing factor to current research on the urbanistic development of Pompeii between the Archaic and Samnite periods. On the ground, investigations are centered on two key structures in this respect, the Republican Baths (VIII 5, 36) and the Stabian Baths (VII 1, 8). Aside from initial superficial excavations under Sogliano in 1882, the first systematic investigations of the Republican Baths were carried out under Amedeo Maiuri in 1950. Following this research, the building remained largely forgotten for several decades – it was only in recent years that Fabrizio Pesando suggested a more refined chronological interpretation based on observations of the standing, albeit heavily covered by vegetation and therefore largely obscured, remains. This latest understanding of the development of the site, however, remains to be tested against reliable archaeological data and the stratigraphic sequence in particular. Two field seasons were conducted in 2015. In March, the Republican Baths were returned to the state left by the Maiuri excavations in 1950 by cleaning of surface material and vegetation. At the same time, a georeferenced plan of the entire area, including all earlier and later remains, was created in order to provide a basis for further study and identification of developmental phases of the area. In September 2015, first stratigraphic excavations in the southern parts of the Republican Baths were carried out. Three separate areas were targeted: area I – the SE part of the baths; area II/1 – the laconicum; area II/2 – the corridor running along the S face of the laconicum; area III – the praefurnium (Fig. 1). All excavated areas had been affected by trenches dug by Maiuri, resulting in incomplete or disturbed stratigraphic sequences. Nonetheless, it was possible to identify and reconstruct a substantial overall Matrix of contexts reaching from the Bronze Age through to 79AD. While most data remains preliminary at present and requires further analysis, some interesting observations can already be made: the laconicum (identified as room 30) appears to have been constructed by the 2nd century BC, probably during its the earliest years. It underwent a major phase of reconstruction from an initially rectangular space to its current rounded interior shape. This is likely also to have occurred during the 2nd century BC. A further phase of rebuilding and modification dates to the 1st century BC. The development of the various identified phases of the praefurnium (identified as room 17) remains far more problematic: created originally as a rectangular space with six heating ducts for the two sets of caldaria and immersion pools, it was repeatedly modified, reduced in extent and reconstructed in order to modify heat flow and firing accessibility, as well as in response to the changing needs of the modified baths complex as a whole in its various phases.
-
AIAC_3765 - Pompei, Republican Baths (VIII 5, 36) - 2016Building on the work carried out in September 2015, the autumn field season of the research 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), saw renewed excavations in the Republican Baths (VIII 5, 36). During a four-week season, most of the remaining accessible parts of the Republican Baths were excavated, wherever possible to natural levels. In addition, two trenches excavated by Maiuri in the adjacent Casa delle Pareti Rosse were reopened and, for the first time, documented in full. In total 17, trenches were excavated across the Republican Baths and in the neighboring property. Parallel to this work, the survey of standing remains and phasing of walls were completed. The geo-referenced detailed ground plan was completed and all major walls documented by photogrammetry. Key parts of the site, including the well, were documented digitally by means of structure from motion modelling and the water management and use patterns of the baths studied in detail. Pending analysis of the excavated materials, it is now possible to understand the development and history of use of the plot at VIII 5, 36 from c. 7000 BC to the end of Pompeii as fully as the site allows. In additional, several functional aspects of the baths, changes in their construction and use of the site as a private building in the 1st century AD are now understood in more detail: While the stratigraphic sequence could be traced back to the Mercato eruption of Vesuvius, the earliest traces of human activity, in the shape of isolated sherds, date back to the Bronze age. More regular use of the area can be traced to the Iron Age, for which occupation evidence in the form of isolated postholes and a hearth could be identified. Before the mid-2nd century BC, the site was used for some form of industrial activity as indicated by several water features and dumps of fuel ash. The baths themselves were not constructed until the middle or latter half of the 2nd century BC and underwent several modifications until there abandonment and demolition in the late 1st century BC. The area then became part of the Casa della Calce and was used as a garden surrounded by porticoes and rooms. In the last period of use, probably post-dating the earthquake of AD 62, several large quarry pits were dug across the site, some of which were refilled with building waste once they were no longer used.
-
AIAC_3765 - Pompei, Republican Baths (VIII 5, 36) - 2019In March and April 2019, a field season of the project “Bathing Culture and the Development of Urban Space: Case Study Pompeii”, was carried out in the Republican Baths (VIII 5, 36) at Pompeii. The season was focused on studying the finds and cleaning some areas to clarify specific questions. The ceramics team completed the study of the material from the Republican Baths. Cleaning served to clarify two major questions: first, characteristics and function of certain water management features, which Thomas Heide investigates for his dissertation at the Freie Universität Berlin. Cleaning included: a double drainage hole in the southwestern corner of the men’s tepidarium; a large, deep settling basin in the southeastern corner of the men’s apodyterium; and the part of the baths’ drainage channel that is located in taberna 35 of the Casa della Calce (VIII, 5, 28). Second, the design and development of the southwestern corner of the baths, which Maiuri had excavated but barely mentioned in his report from 1950, were investigated. The chronology of the southwestern room of the baths (room 34, numbering system of project) could be clarified, correlating well with the development of the entire lot, as established in previous seasons: 1) service corridor with entrance from the street for the baths (c. 150-30/20 BC); 2) room decorated with Second Style wall paintings, accessible only from the new garden peristyle of the Casa della Calce (30/20 BC); 3) installation of a latrine along the south wall of the room, when the garden peristyle was remodeled and provided with more rooms (sometime between 30/20 BC and AD 62); 4)room used as a dump site for debris after AD 62. In the room to the north of this room (room 26, numbering system of project) a limekiln, which Maiuri had excavated but not identified and described, was rediscovered. This limekiln was installed for one of the remodeling phases in the early Imperial period, but destroyed already before the eruption of Vesuvius and filled with debris.
Media
- Images
-
fig.1.jpg
- Name
- Pompei, Republican Baths (VIII 5, 36)
- Year
- 2015
- Summary
-
en
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 of the German Research Foundation (DFG). The project is a research collaboration between the Freie Universität Berlin and the University of Oxford. Overall, it investigates various aspects of the development of bathing culture within the historic context of urban development of the city of Pompeii. A particular focus lies on the study of the development of baths and bathing in the late Republican period and the transition from Greek to Roman bathing traditions. In this, bathing culture is seen as a reflection of cultural identity and therefore contributing factor to current research on the urbanistic development of Pompeii between the Archaic and Samnite periods. On the ground, investigations are centered on two key structures in this respect, the Republican Baths (VIII 5, 36) and the Stabian Baths (VII 1, 8).
Aside from initial superficial excavations under Sogliano in 1882, the first systematic investigations of the Republican Baths were carried out under Amedeo Maiuri in 1950. Following this research, the building remained largely forgotten for several decades – it was only in recent years that Fabrizio Pesando suggested a more refined chronological interpretation based on observations of the standing, albeit heavily covered by vegetation and therefore largely obscured, remains. This latest understanding of the development of the site, however, remains to be tested against reliable archaeological data and the stratigraphic sequence in particular.
Two field seasons were conducted in 2015. In March, the Republican Baths were returned to the state left by the Maiuri excavations in 1950 by cleaning of surface material and vegetation. At the same time, a georeferenced plan of the entire area, including all earlier and later remains, was created in order to provide a basis for further study and identification of developmental phases of the area. In September 2015, first stratigraphic excavations in the southern parts of the Republican Baths were carried out. Three separate areas were targeted: area I – the SE part of the baths; area II/1 – the laconicum; area II/2 – the corridor running along the S face of the laconicum; area III – the praefurnium (Fig. 1).
All excavated areas had been affected by trenches dug by Maiuri, resulting in incomplete or disturbed stratigraphic sequences. Nonetheless, it was possible to identify and reconstruct a substantial overall Matrix of contexts reaching from the Bronze Age through to 79AD. While most data remains preliminary at present and requires further analysis, some interesting observations can already be made: the laconicum (identified as room 30) appears to have been constructed by the 2nd century BC, probably during its the earliest years. It underwent a major phase of reconstruction from an initially rectangular space to its current rounded interior shape. This is likely also to have occurred during the 2nd century BC. A further phase of rebuilding and modification dates to the 1st century BC. The development of the various identified phases of the praefurnium (identified as room 17) remains far more problematic: created originally as a rectangular space with six heating ducts for the two sets of caldaria and immersion pools, it was repeatedly modified, reduced in extent and reconstructed in order to modify heat flow and firing accessibility, as well as in response to the changing needs of the modified baths complex as a whole in its various phases. -
it
Nel 2015 è stato iniziato un nuovo progetto guidato da Monika Trümper e all’interno dell’ambito di ricerca di TOPOI Excellence Cluster 264 del German Research Foundation (DFG). “Bathing Culture and the Development of Urban Space: Case Study Pompeii”. Il progetto è una collaborazione tra la Freie Universität Berlin e l'University of Oxford. In generale, il progetto indaga vari aspetti dello sviluppo della cultura di balneazione all'interno del contesto dello sviluppo urbano di Pompei.
Un’attenzione particolare risiede nello studio dello sviluppo delle terme e della balneazione durante la tarda età repubblicana e nella transizione dalla tradizione termale Greca a quella Romana. La cultura termale è vista come un riflesso dell’identità culturale e dunque un fattore fondamentale per lo studio dello sviluppo urbano di Pompei tra il periodo arcaico e quello sannita. Le indagini sul terreno si sono concentrate su due strutture fondamentali: le Terme Repubblicane e le Terme Stabiane.
Oltre agli scavi iniziali di superficie condotti da Sogliano nel 1882, le prime indagini sistematiche delle Terme Repubblicane sono state svolte da Amedeo Maiuri nel 1950. In seguito a questo studio, l’edificio non è stato più indagato per svariati decenni. Solo recentemente, Fabrizio Pesando ha suggerito una interpretazione cronologica più sofisticata e basata sull’osservazione di ciò che rimane sul terreno, sebbene coperto da vegetazione e dunque per lo più nascosto. Questo ultimo sviluppo del sito deve essere confermato utilizzando affidabili dati archeologici ed in particolare la sequenza stratigrafica.
Nel 2015 sono state condotte due stagioni di scavo. A Marzo, le Terme Repubblicane sono tornate nello stato lasciato da Maiuri nel 1950; materiale di superficie e vegetazione sono stati rimossi. Allo stesso tempo è stata creata una pianta georeferenziata di tutta l’area, resti precedenti e successivi inclusi, al fine di fornire le basi per un successivo studio ed identificazione delle fasi di sviluppo dell’area. A Settembre 2015, sono stati condotti i primi scavi stratigrafici della parte sud delle Terme Repubblicane. Ci si è concentrati su tre aree separate: l’area I (la parte SE delle terme), l’area II ( _laconicum_ ), l’area II/2 (il corridoio che corre lungo la facciata S del _laconicum_ ), e l’area III (il _prefurnium_, fig. 1).
Tutte le aree scavate sono state influenzate negativamente dai saggi scavati da Maiuri, con il risultato di una incompleta sequenza stratigrafica. Tuttavia, è stato possible identificare e ricostruire una Matrix generale dei contesti, dall’età del bronzo fino al 79 d.C. Nonostante la maggior parte dei dati rimanga preliminare e richieda ulteriori esami, si possono già trarre alcune osservazioni interessanti: il _laconicum_ (ambiente 30) sembra essere stato terminato nel II a.C., probabilmente durante i primi anni del secolo. Lo stesso ambiente è andato incontro ad una fase di ricostruzione: da un iniziale spazio rettangolare al corrente spazio interno circolare. E’ possibile che tale rifacimento sia avvenuto durante il II sec. a.C. Un’ulteriore fase di ricostruzione e modifica si data al I sec. a.C. Lo sviluppo delle varie fasi del _praefurnium_ identificate (ambiente 17) rimane molto problematico: venne creato originariamente come uno spazio rettangolare con sei canali di riscaldamento per i due set di calidaria e piscine; venne successivamente modificato, ridotto in estensione e ricostruito al fine di modificare il flusso di calore e accessibilità all'accensione. Tali modifiche avvennero in conseguenza di un cambiamento delle esigenze del complesso termale modificato. - Summary Author
- Monika Trümper- Freie Universität Berlin
- Mark Robinson- Oxford University
- Domenico Esposito - Freie Universität Berlin
- Funding Body
- TOPOI Excellence Cluster 264
Media
- Name
- Pompei, Republican Baths (VIII 5, 36)
- Year
- 2016
- Summary
-
en
Building on the work carried out in September 2015, the autumn field season of the research 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), saw renewed excavations in the Republican Baths (VIII 5, 36).
During a four-week season, most of the remaining accessible parts of the Republican Baths were excavated, wherever possible to natural levels. In addition, two trenches excavated by Maiuri in the adjacent Casa delle Pareti Rosse were reopened and, for the first time, documented in full. In total 17, trenches were excavated across the Republican Baths and in the neighboring property. Parallel to this work, the survey of standing remains and phasing of walls were completed. The geo-referenced detailed ground plan was completed and all major walls documented by photogrammetry. Key parts of the site, including the well, were documented digitally by means of structure from motion modelling and the water management and use patterns of the baths studied in detail.
Pending analysis of the excavated materials, it is now possible to understand the development and history of use of the plot at VIII 5, 36 from c. 7000 BC to the end of Pompeii as fully as the site allows. In additional, several functional aspects of the baths, changes in their construction and use of the site as a private building in the 1st century AD are now understood in more detail:
While the stratigraphic sequence could be traced back to the Mercato eruption of Vesuvius, the earliest traces of human activity, in the shape of isolated sherds, date back to the Bronze age. More regular use of the area can be traced to the Iron Age, for which occupation evidence in the form of isolated postholes and a hearth could be identified. Before the mid-2nd century BC, the site was used for some form of industrial activity as indicated by several water features and dumps of fuel ash. The baths themselves were not constructed until the middle or latter half of the 2nd century BC and underwent several modifications until there abandonment and demolition in the late 1st century BC. The area then became part of the Casa della Calce and was used as a garden surrounded by porticoes and rooms. In the last period of use, probably post-dating the earthquake of AD 62, several large quarry pits were dug across the site, some of which were refilled with building waste once they were no longer used. -
it
La stagione autunnale del progetto di ricerca “Bathing Culture and the Development of Urban Space: Case Study Pompeii”, all’interno della ricerca condotta da TOPOI Excellence Cluster 264 del German Research Foundation (DFG), ha visto portata avanti una nuova stagione di scavi dei bagni repubblicani (VIII 5, 36).
Durante una stagione di quattro settimane, è stata scavata fino al terreno vergine la maggior parte degli ambienti delle terme repubblicane. In aggiunta sono stati riaperti e documentati per intero due saggi scavati da Maiuri accanto alla Casa delle Pareti Rosse. In totale sono stati scavati 17 saggi nelle Terme Repubblicane e nella proprietà vicina. In parallelo a questo lavoro, è stata completata la ricognizione dei resti architettonici tutt’ora in piedi. E’ stata realizzata una pianta georeferenziata e tutti i maggiori muri sono stati documentati fotogrammetricamente. Altre parti importanti di questo sito sono state documentate digitalmente.
In attesa di uno studio del materiale scavato, è adesso possibile capire lo sviluppo e la storia d’uso del lotto in VIII 5, 36 dal 7000 a.C. fino alla fine di Pompei nei limiti di quanto permetta il sito. In aggiunta, sono ora compresi in maggior dettaglio numerosi aspetti funzionali delle terme, cambiamenti nella loro costruzione e l’uso del sito come edificio private nel I secolo d.C.
Media
- Name
- Pompei, Republican Baths (VIII 5, 36)
- Year
- 2019
- Summary
-
en
In March and April 2019, a field season of the project “Bathing Culture and the Development of Urban Space: Case Study Pompeii”, was carried out in the Republican Baths (VIII 5, 36) at Pompeii. The season was focused on studying the finds and cleaning some areas to clarify specific questions. The ceramics team completed the study of the material from the Republican Baths.
Cleaning served to clarify two major questions: first, characteristics and function of certain water
management features, which Thomas Heide investigates for his dissertation at the Freie Universität
Berlin. Cleaning included: a double drainage hole in the southwestern corner of the men’s tepidarium; a large, deep settling basin in the southeastern corner of the men’s apodyterium; and the part of the baths’ drainage channel that is located in taberna 35 of the Casa della Calce (VIII, 5, 28).
Second, the design and development of the southwestern corner of the baths, which Maiuri had excavated but barely mentioned in his report from 1950, were investigated. The chronology of the southwestern room of the baths (room 34, numbering system of project) could be clarified, correlating well with the development of the entire lot, as established in previous seasons: 1) service corridor with entrance from the street for the baths (c. 150-30/20 BC); 2) room decorated with Second Style wall paintings, accessible only from the new garden peristyle of the Casa della Calce (30/20 BC); 3) installation of a latrine along the south wall of the room, when the garden peristyle was remodeled and provided with more rooms (sometime between 30/20 BC and AD 62); 4)room used as a dump site for debris after AD 62. In the room to the north of this room (room 26, numbering system of project) a limekiln, which Maiuri had excavated but not identified and described, was rediscovered. This limekiln was installed for one of the remodeling phases in the early Imperial period, but destroyed already before the eruption of Vesuvius and filled with debris. -
it
La stagione di scavo del progetto “Bathing Culture and the Development of Urban Space: Case Study Pompeii” è stata condotta tra Marzo ed Aprile 2019 all’interno delle Terme Repubblicane (VIII 5, 36) di Pompeii. La stagione si è concentrata sullo studio dei materiali e la pulizia di alcune finalizzata alla comprensione di specifiche domande di ricerca. Si è inoltre completato lo studio dei materiali ceramici.
La pulizia è stata funzionale alla chiarificazione di due domande di ricerca. La prima è la comprensione delle caratteristiche e della funzione di alcune infrastrutture idriche, che Thomas Heide (Freie Universität Berlin) studia per il suo dottorato. Si sono pertanto puliti un foro di scarico localizzato nell’angolo sudovest del _tepidarium_ maschile, una vasca di decantazione localizzato nell’angolo sudest dell’ _apodyterium_ maschile, e una parte del canale di scolo delle terme che si trova nella taberna 35 della Casa della Calce (VIII, 5, 28).
Si è inoltre indagato l’angolo sudovest delle terme, scavato da Maiuri ma a malapena da lui descritto nel report del 1950. Si è potuta chiarire la cronologia della stanza sudovest delle terme (ambiente 34) e collegarla con lo sviluppo dell’intero lotto, come stabilito nelle passate stagioni di scavo: 1) corridoio di servizio con ingresso per le terme sul lato della strada (c. 150-30/20 a.C.); 2) stanza decorata in secondo stile, accessibile solo dal nuovo peristilio a giardino della Casa della Calce (30/20 a.C.); 3) installazione di una latrina lungo il lato sud della stanza, quando il giardino a peristilio venne rimodellato con l’aggiunta di nuove stanze (tra il 30/20 a.C. e il 62 d.C.); 4) l’ambiente venne usato come discarica di detriti dopo il 62 d.C. Nella stanza a nord di questo ambiente (stanza 26) si è rinvenuta una fornace di calce., scavata da Maiuri ma non identificata ne descritta. La fornace venne installata durante la prima età imperiale in una delle fasi di rimodellamento della struttura, ma venne distrutta prima della eruzione del Vesuvio e riempita di detriti. - Research Body
- Institut für Klassische Archäologie - Freie Universität Berlin, Fabeckstrasse 23-25, D-14195 Berlin, Deutschland
- Funding Body
- Freie Universität Berlin
Media
-
DeLaine 1989J. DeLaine, 1989, Some Observations on the Transition from Greek to Roman Baths in Hellenistic Italy, MeditArch 2: 111-25.
-
Maiuri 1950A. Maiuri, 1950, Pompei. Scoperta di un edificio termale nella Regio VIII, Insula 5, nr. 36, NSc: 116-136.
-
Nielsen 1985I. Nielsen, 1985, Considerazioni sulle prime fasi dell’evoluzione dell’edificio termale romano, AnalRom 14: 81-112.
-
Pesando 2002-3F. Pesando, 2002-3. Le terme repubblicane di Pompei. Cronologia e funzione, AnnArchStAn 9-10: 221-243.
-
Trümper c.s.M. Trümper, c.s., LACONICUM. A Reassessment of Graeco-Roman Sweat Baths from a Cross-Cultural Perspective.
-
Trümper 2015M. Trümper, 2015, South Baths at Morgantina: Assessment of the Heating System in the Context of Graeco-Roman Public Baths, in: L. Maniscalco (ed.), Morgantina ieri e oggi, Palermo, 102-114.
-
Trümper - Rummel c.d.s.Trümper, M. – C. Rummel, c.d.s., Hellenistic Gymnasia in Pompeii. The Foro Triangolare and the Republican Baths, in: U. Mania – M. Trümper (eds.), Development of Gymnasia and Graeco-Roman Cityscapes, Proceedings of a Topoi Conference, February 2016, Berlin
-
D’Avino 1950D’Avino, A. 1950, Giornale dei lavori di scavo stratigrafico eseguiti a scopo di studio nell’area della Insula V della Reg. VIII, unpublished 1950
-
Henzel and Trümper 2018R. Henzel and M. Trümper 2018, "Crowded or Empty Spaces? The Statuary Decoration of the ‘Palaestrae’ in Pompeii and Herculaneum" in: U. Mania – M. Trümper (eds.), Development of Gymnasia and Graeco-Roman Cityscapes, Berlin: 115-142
-
Henzel and Trümper 2018R. Henzel and M. Trümper 2018, "Crowded or Empty Spaces? The Statuary Decoration of the ‘Palaestrae’ in Pompeii and Herculaneum" in: U. Mania – M. Trümper (eds.), Development of Gymnasia and Graeco-Roman Cityscapes, Berlin: 115-142
-
Trümper 2017M. Trümper, 2017, "Curare se stessi. Bagni e terme a Pompei", in M. Osanna – C. Rescigno (eds.), Pompei e i Greci, Milano: 262-267
-
Trümper 2018M. Trümper, 2018, "Gymnasium, Palaestra, Campus and Bathing in Late Hellenistic Pompeii: A Reassessment of the Urban Context of the Republican Baths (VIII 5, 36)", in U. Mania – M. Trümper (eds.), Development of Gymnasia and Graeco-Roman Cityscapes Berlin: 87-113
-
Trümper 2020M. Trümper, 2020, "Republican Baths to Casa della Calce. A Radical Transformation Process in Pompeii", in K. Piesker - U. Wulf-Rheidt [†] (eds.), Umgebaut. Umbau-, Umnutzungs- und Umwertungsprozesse in der antiken Architektur. DiskAB 13, Regensburg: 11-28
-
Trümper 2020M. Trümper, 2020, Water Management of Late Republican Baths, in: S. Bouffier – I. Fumadó Ortega (eds.), L'eau dans tous ses états (Aix-en-Provence 2020) (8.000 words)