BATHS OF CARACALLA

TERME DI CARACALLA
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 52

212/216 AD for Caracalla (211/217)

The baths were known as Thermae Antoninianae from the real name of the emperor Caracalla, which was Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
He was nicknamed Caracalla from the name of the Gallic hooded robe he used to dress. He was in fact born in Gaul, in the city of Lugdunum, today Lyon

Tha baths were dedicated in the year 216 but were completed by Elagabalus (218/222) and Alexander Severus (222/235), a great lover of athletics, with the external enclosure
The baths were restored by Aurelian (270/275)

The complex remained in operation until the year 537 (about 300 years!) when the Goths of Vitige cut the acqueduct of the Aqua Antoniniana Iovia derived from the Aqua Marcia and passing on the Arch of Drusus

Since 1938 the baths were used for summer performances of operas and here sang for the first time ever in 1990 the three tenors Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo

“The water flow of the aqueduct service of the Baths of Caracalla could have been up to 20,000 m³ (5,283,500 gallons) per day, enough for a modern city of 70,000 inhabitants; at least 3,500 m (11,500 feet) of lead piping, 550 tons (606 tons) heavy, distributing water in different rooms; 49 ovens warmed the rooms up, consuming no less than 10 tons (11 tons) of wood a day, which required warehouses for 2,000 tons (2,200 tons), of supply for 7 months. The number of users of 1600, also provided by an ancient source, refers only to one shift lasting 2 hours, which allows to evaluate between 6500 and 8000 the number of swimmers who used the complete cycle of the baths, and about 10,000 people daily. On this basis it is possible to calculate the number of people using daily the whole system of the Rome public and private baths, which could reach 150,000 people, a figure roughly equivalent to that of those entitled to free wheat and representing therefore a real ‘baths culture’ that, in this size, knows no parallel in any period of history” (Filippo Coarelli)

PERIMETER
337 x 328 m (1,105 x 1,076 feet) but with the projection of the square the larger side would have been 400 m (1,312 feet)

Interior:

STADIUM that hid the huge tanks (64 rooms) capable of 80,000 liters (21,100 gallons)

APODYTERIUM (dressing room), GREEK LIBRARY LIBRARY and LATIN

FRIGIDARIUM, TEPIDARIUM and round CALDARIUM WITH dome of 34 m (112 feet) in diameter

CENTRAL BASILICA 58 x 24 m (190 x 79 feet)

NATATIO (swimming pool) with no ceiling

Vast underground areas on two levels: the upper for services, the lower for drainage

Near the large exedra of northwest was installed the largest MITHRAIC TEMPLE ever found in Rome, which retains the white mosaic floor with black bands

Among the works of art found here:

Taurus, Flora and the Hercules Farnese in Naples

The tanks of the fountains on Piazza Farnese

The mosaic with athletes at the Vatican Museums
One of the four pillars of the natatio is in Piazza S. Trinita in Florence

TEMPLE OF SERAPIS

TEMPIO DI SERAPIDE
Piazza del Quirinale

Built by Caracalla (211/217)
It was the largest temple of ancient Rome and perhaps in the world together with the Temple of Venus and Rome, of similar size:

135 x 98 m (443 x 322 feet) with an area of 13,230 m² (3.25 acres)
The columns had a diameter of nearly 2 m (6.5 feet) and were 21.17 m (70 feet) high

Serapis was a Greek-Egyptian god, whose cult was introduced in Alexandria by Ptolemy I, who built there the Serapeum
There are conflicting theories about the origins of the deity: the most reliable are the Sinopitic-Babylonian origin (Sinope is in northern Turkey) and the Memphis origin connected with Osiris-Apis 
For the syncretistic phenomenon typical of the Hellenistic age, it was identified with various Greek gods, especially Zeus

In the nearby Villa Colonna there is the largest architectural element existing in Rome of 34 sqm (366 square feet) and weighing 100 tons (110 tons)

Important statues found in the nearby Baths of Constantine were probably part of the decoration of the temple:

“Two Dioscuri” now in Piazza del Quirinale
Two colossal river gods “Tiber”, originally the Tigris River, later transformed with the addition of the twins, and “Nile”, both now in Piazza del Campidoglio

VATICAN MUSEUMS - PIUS CLEMENTINUS MUSEUM - Gallery of the Busts

Galleria dei Busti

 

Made under Clement XIV Ganganelli (1769/74) by combining four rooms of the Palace of Innocent VIII Cybo (1484/92) with arches on columns

ROOM I

In the vault panels with “Figures and two peacocks” maybe by Piermatteo Lauro di Manfredo aka Piermatteo d'Amelia (1446-48/about 1506) the author of the blue sky with stars on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, covered by Michelangelo's masterpiece

From the right up “Caracalla” about 212

“It expresses all the pathos and drama of the new absolutist conception of power, to which is no stranger the way of representation of the Hellenistic dynasties, notably that of Alexander the Great. Designed for this purpose are the twisting of the head and the strong tendency of expression. (...) We are seeing a shift away from equilibrium and expression of austerity, that the classical language gave to the face of the sovereign, replaced by a desire for immediate and instinctive expression of energy, almost transcendent” (Simona Fortunella/Gianluca Grassigli - TMG)

“Young Octavian” end of first century BC maybe from Ostia, the only existing portrait of young Octavian later to become Augustus

The identification however is not certain and some scholars identify it as a portrait of one of the two grandchildren and adopted sons of Augustus, Gaius Caesar and Lucius

They were sons of Augustus' daughter Julia, later disowned, and Agrippa

This portrait had a huge success which is testified by the large amount of modern copies produced particularly in the nineteenth century

“Julius Caesar” about 25 BC one of the most beautiful portraits of Caesar, very realistic with wrinkles and sunken cheeks

Despite the veracity of the work, adhering to the stylistic features of Roman art, it remains nevertheless a clear idealized expression, following the common Greek style appropriate to the regime's propaganda

“The model for the creation of this portrait, repeats some of the known patterns in the representation of the Hellenistic rulers: very similar, for example, is the portrait of Antiochus III of Syria, called the Great (late third century BC). The portrait of Caesar is associated with the so-called type II of the portraits of Caesar, also called, on the basis of this and another example in Pisa, “Chiaramonti-Pisa Cemetery type”. This model - which has both realistic tones and a clear idealization - seems to be a replica of a posthumous portrait of the dictator, a “piece of art propaganda” presumably created in the early years of the principate of Augustus” (Giandomenico Spinola)

ROOM II

Vault as in Room I

“Saturn” from original of the end of the fifth or early fourth century BC

“Head of a Warrior” school of Pergamum, from a votive offering of King Attalus

“Menelaus” from the group of Menelaus supporting the body of Patroclus, maybe similar to the famous Pasquino

In the middle of the room “Rectangular base with neo-Attic reliefs” with the visit of Dionysus to Icarius, Eros and Thanatos burning one soul (in the form of a butterfly) and country scenes with Hercules and a goddess

ROOM III

Ceiling “Allegories of the Four Seasons” by Cristoforo Unterberger (1732/98)

In the niche seated statue of “Zeus aka Verospi” end of the third century or early fourth century AD. It is called Verospi because it used to be kept in the Verospi Palace

It is a copy of the cult statue of Capitoline Jupiter and it was found near the Basilica of St. Agnes Outside the Walls

The statue of Jupiter Capitolinus was chryselephantine (made of gold and ivory) and it was destroyed by fire in 85 BC. The next statue had the same fate as it went up in flames in 69 AD

“Celestial globe with zodiac and stars”

SMALL ROOM IV

“Mask of Jupiter Ammon” from the original of the early fourth century BC

“Woman praying aka Mercy” maybe Augustus' wife Livia

“Head of Juno” from an original of the fifth century BC

In the lunette over the passage “Fresco with singers” of the 1400s

ARCH OF THE MONEY CHANGERS

ARCO DEGLI ARGENTARI

Via del Velabro

204 AD, built by the corporation of argentarii or money changers

It was one of the entrances to the Forum Boario in Severian period (193/235)

"Internal reliefs":

On the left:

Caracalla (211/217) by a figure later erased for damnatio memoriae, maybe representing his brother Geta (211/212) or the praetorian prefect Plautianus (killed in 205 by order of Caracalla), and his daughter Plautilla, wife of Caracalla who later sent her in exile

On the right:

Septimius Severus (193/211) and Julia Domna with another erased figure (Plautilla or Geta)

"The front, the lack of perspective and the drawn outline of the figures, coupled with the hierarchy of scale are all elements that, anticipating formal modes of expression of late antiquity, combine to give a mystical aura to the imperial image" (Simona Fortunelli - TMG)

Numerous holes were dug on the arch in the Middle Ages to search for an elusive treasure that was hidden by argentarii