Ancient Baths Resource Site

The Museum

or

Gallery of Images

"... The town of Septimium Aurelium Severianun Antoninianum Frugiferum Concordium Liberum Thibursicum Bure completed and dedicated the Baths of Gallienus with public money, after they had been redesigned and beautified. Present at the dedication were the public patrons L. Naevius Aquilinus, a gentleman of senatorial rank, and Naevius Balbinus Aquilinus, legate of Carthage and a gentleman of senatorial rank. Toward the construction of the Museum of this structure several local councillors contributed 41,200 sesterces from moneys collected ..."
(Inscription, Thibursicum Bure in North Africa, AD 260-68; AE 1913.180 = ILAfr. 506)

As the above inscription attests, some Roman baths had musaea attached to them. Ancient musaea often served a function closer to what we expect of a library, but they appear also to have been places where works of art were put on display. In the latter tradition, it is intended that the Museum of the Ancient Baths Resource Site will make available a variety of images of baths and bath-related paintings, sculptures, and mosaics. At the moment the Museum is, like the rest of the site, very much under construction. Eventually, we aim to establish a site-by-site catalogue of plans, drawings, and photographs.

An important note on copyright. All original images in the Museum are copyrighted to the contributor. In each case a link is established from the contributor's name to his/her e-mail account, so that permission to reproduce can easily be requested.

The Site-by-Site Bath Tour

Some ancient sites have multiple baths. If so, each facility is linked separately. For every bath, the main bibliography is provided at the head of the page, with a link to the appropriate entry in the main bibliography to facilitate easy tracking of further information on that particular bath building.

Enjoy the tour!