by Archaeologists have discovered a private spa complex in Pompeii that belonged to a member of the ancient Roman elite and featured a huge plunge pool and hot baths.
The 2,000-year-old thermal bath complex is one of the most elaborate ever found in the ancient Roman world.
The site was uncovered in a large Roman villa and would have allowed its wealthy owner to entertain friends, socialize, gain votes and confirm their social status.
It sits next to the remains of an ornate dining room, so guests could enjoy a long hot bath before the banquet.
The walls of the private bathhouse are decorated with finely painted mosaics depicting scenes from the Trojan War that survived the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
The complex could accommodate about 30 people and featured baths of varying temperatures, including a caldarium for hot water, a tepidarium for lukewarm water, and a frigidarium for a refreshing, cold bath.
The identity of the owner is unknown, but according to archaeologists it may have been “an important local figure”.
The bathhouse is said to have been used by the owner “to win votes or ingratiate himself with guests,” said Gabrielzuchtriegel, the director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park.
It was decorated in a way that evoked the “culture, learning and idle leisure” of ancient Rome, he said.
Prof.zuchtriegel added: “Members of Pompeii’s ruling class set up huge rooms in their homes to hold banquets. Their function was to build consensus, advance an election campaign, and close deals. It was an opportunity to show off the wealth in which they lived and also enjoy a lovely thermal treatment.”
He went on to say that the facility was so well preserved that it was as if the owner and family had “just left a minute ago.”
The bath complex was discovered in Regio IX, a district of Pompeii that still reveals much about the daily life of Romans – both rich and poor.
The private spa is notable for its size and elaborate decoration, as only three others of similar size have been found in the buried city, archaeologists said.
There have been a number of discoveries at Pompeii in recent years as archaeologists have expanded their excavations.
In the same area they found the remains of a laundry and a bakery, as well as the skeletons of three people who had died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which showered Pompeii and nearby Herculaneum with clouds of ash and superheated volcanic gas.
They discovered frescoes depicting mythological scenes with centaurs, sirens and griffins, as well as the Roman deities Apollo, Venus and Bacchus.
In May 2024, they discovered stick figures drawn by gladiator children, suggesting that young Romans were already watching gladiator fights.
The charcoal drawings were found on the wall of a courtyard and, according to scientists, were probably made by children between the ages of five and seven.
The stick figures show a pair of gladiators, armed with a shield and a sword, facing each other. In the background, two “bestiarii” – professional hunters who provide a spectacle for the barking crowd – use lances to prod two hairy animals, most likely wild boars.
Pompeii had its own amphitheater – similar to the Colosseum in Rome – where gladiator fights and wild animal hunting spectacles took place.
