The Baths of Decius (Latin: thermae Decianae) were a thermae (baths) complex built on the Aventine Hill of Rome by the Emperor Decius in 249 [1] or 252. [2] Its site was between the present-day sites of the churches of Santo Alessio and Santa Prisca, on the Vigna Torlonia, under piazza del Tempio di Diana (named after the Temple of Diana) and the Casale Maccharini Torlonia, which includes remains from the baths. Some other ruins of the baths also survive [ further explanation needed ].
Earlier buildings on the site have also left remains, which can be seen in the basement of the Casale Torlonia and under the piazza del Tempio di Diana. These buildings show something like opus quasi reticulatum , with traces of a decorative scheme of painted stucco imitating marble in the Pompeian First Style, the oldest evidence of this style in Rome, dating to the last quarter of the 2nd century BC. Another building on the site is lavishly decorated with mosaics and wall-paintings showing masks, flowers and landscapes. It dates to the Trajanic period and may have been the Privata Traiani, Trajan's private residence before he became emperor, which is known to have been in the area, or one of Decius' own residences.
The main source for the appearance of the Baths of Decius is a plan made by Andrea Palladio, now in the Duke of Devonshire's collection. [3] The complex was 70 by 35 metres, including an apse belonging to an aula at the southern corner. They were built to serve the wealthy and sophisticated inhabitants of the Aventine, unlike the nearby Baths of Caracalla, which were larger but intended for mass use by the inhabitants of Regio XII. They were decorated with artworks, including an infant Hercules in green basalt and a sleeping Endymion, both now in the Capitoline Museums. The complex is mentioned in several inscriptions which not only confirm its location but also give certain details on its history, such as its two restorations, once by Constantius I or Constantius II and a second one in 414 under Honorius by Caecina Decius Acinatius Albinus following damage in Alaric's Sack of Rome.
The Quirinal Hill is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center. It is the location of the official residence of the Italian head of state, who resides in the Quirinal Palace; by metonymy "the Quirinal" has come to stand for the Italian president. The Quirinal Palace has an extension of 1.2 million square feet.
Gaius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius, sometimes translated as Trajan Decius, was Roman emperor from 249 to 251.
The Aventine Hill is one of the Seven Hills on which ancient Rome was built. It belongs to Ripa, the modern twelfth rione, or ward, of Rome.
In ancient Rome, thermae and balneae were facilities for bathing. Thermae usually refers to the large imperial bath complexes, while balneae were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed in great numbers throughout Rome.
The Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy, were the city's second largest Roman public baths, or thermae, after the Baths of Diocletian. The baths were likely built between AD 212 and 216/217, during the reigns of emperors Septimius Severus and Caracalla. They were in operation until the 530s and then fell into disuse and ruin.
Mediolanum, the ancient city where Milan now stands, was originally an Insubrian city, but afterwards became an important Roman city in Northern Italy. The city was settled by the Insubres around 600 BC, conquered by the Romans in 222 BC, and developed into a key centre of Western Christianity and informal capital of the Western Roman Empire. It declined under the ravages of the Gothic War, its capture by the Lombards in 569, and their decision to make Ticinum the capital of their Kingdom of Italy.
The Janiculum, occasionally known as the Janiculan Hill, is a hill in western Rome, Italy. Although it is the second-tallest hill in the contemporary city of Rome, the Janiculum does not figure among the proverbial Seven Hills of Rome, being west of the Tiber and outside the boundaries of the ancient city.
The Baths of Diocletian were public baths in ancient Rome. Named after emperor Diocletian and built from AD 298 to 306, they were the largest of the imperial baths. The project was originally commissioned by Maximian upon his return to Rome in the autumn of 298 and was continued after his and Diocletian's abdication under Constantius, father of Constantine.
The Baths of Titus or Thermae Titi were public baths (Thermae) built in 81 AD at Rome, by Roman emperor Titus. The baths sat at the base of the Esquiline Hill, an area of parkland and luxury estates which had been taken over by Nero for his Golden House or Domus Aurea. Titus' baths were built in haste, possibly by converting an existing or partly built bathing complex belonging to the reviled Domus Aurea. They were not particularly extensive, and the much larger Baths of Trajan were built immediately adjacent to them at the start of the next century.
The Baths of Trajan were a massive thermae, a bathing and leisure complex, built in ancient Rome and dedicated under Trajan during the kalendae of July 109, shortly after the Aqua Traiana was dedicated.
San Saba is the 21st rione of Rome, identified by the initials R. XXI. It is located within the Municipio I, and takes its name from the Basilica of San Saba, which is located there.
The Aqua Appia was the first Roman aqueduct, constructed in 312 BC by the co-censors Gaius Plautius Venox and Appius Claudius Caecus, the same Roman censor who also built the important Via Appia.
The Villa Romana del Casale is a large and elaborate Roman villa or palace located about 3 km from the town of Piazza Armerina, Sicily. Excavations have revealed one of the richest, largest, and most varied collections of Roman mosaics in the world, for which the site has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The villa and artwork contained within date to the early 4th century AD.
The Baths of Agrippa was a structure of ancient Rome, Italy, built by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. It was the first of the great thermae constructed in the city, and also the first public bath.
Baths of Constantine was a public bathing complex built on Rome's Quirinal Hill, beside the Tiber River, by Constantine I, probably before 315.
The Baths of Licinius Sura or Thermae Suranae were a private ancient Roman bath complex built by Lucius Licinius Sura on the Aventine Hill in Rome.
The Temple of Diana was an edifice in ancient Rome which, according to the early semi-legendary history of Rome, was built in the 6th century BC during the reign of the king Servius Tullius.
The Baths of Nero or Baths of Alexander were a complex of ancient Roman baths on the Campus Martius in Rome, built by Nero in either 62 or 64 and rebuilt by Alexander Severus in 227 or 229. It stood between the Pantheon and the Stadium of Domitian and were listed among the most notable buildings in the city by Roman authors and became a much-frequented venue. These thermae were the second large public baths built in Rome, after the Baths of Agrippa, and it was probably the first "imperial-type" complex of baths, with a monumental scale and symmetrical, axially-planned design. While in the sixteenth century the foundations of the caldarium were still visible, nothing else of the structure remains above ground except some fragments of walls incorporated into the structure of Palazzo Madama.
The Baths of Commodus or Baths of Cleander was a thermae (baths) complex in Rome, in Regio I Porta Capena, presumably to the south or south-east of the Baths of Caracalla. Although mentioned by several ancient authors no archaeological remains survive.