• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Baths of Titus

The Baths of Titus are on the Esquiline, overlooking the northern side of the Colosseum. The entrance is at the N.W. angle of the Via della Polveriera. To see the ruins of the Neronian palace underneath, the visitor must take the Via Labicana, at the E. extremity of the Colosseum. Considerable portions of the existing buildings, and especially those now the most interesting from their arabesque paintings, are undoubtedly anterior to the age of Titus. It is well known that the house and gardens of Maecenas spread over the part of the Esquiline which faces the Colosseum, and that the site was subsequently occupied by a part of the Palace of Nero. In the construction of this new edifice Nero included the villa of Maecenas; and hence it is possible that even some of the lower parts of the chambers now visible belonged to the dwellings of that celebrated personage.

Titus reigned from the year 79 of the Christian era until the year 81; and Trajan, successor of Nerva, reigned* from the year 98 down to the elevation to the imperial throne of Adrian, in 117. In short, the Baths of Titus and those of Trajan were both built upon the same ground, and rose above the ruins of the "domus aurea " of Nero, which, as has been a hundred times repeated, according to the original scheme of Nero, was to have had as great an extent as from the north slope of the Palatine across the Velia and the low valley between the Palatine and the Caelian as far as the Oppian : whence the palace itself was called " Transitoria." But this was destroyed by the terrible conflagration of the year 65 ; and the emperor built a second one, less expensive, but of astounding richness.

The real Baths of Titus used to rise almost at the west side of the Baths of Trajan, which, according to the testimony of Suetonius, were built by that emperor immediately after the dedication of the neighboring amphitheatre. The remains of the Baths of Titus were discovered in 1895, during the excavations just mentioned, at a point north of the amphitheatre and the Rue Labicana, on the left side. So the true Baths of Titus rose on the summit of the Oppian by the side of the Rue Labicana, which was on a level with the amphitheatre, and access was had to it by means of a monumental staircase, at the foot of which was built a portico which formed the beginning of the Baths. This is the same portico some remains of which are still visible in the shape of a series of brick piers, decorated with half-columns and connected by ruined arches. The portico and the monumental staircase were in fair condition in the time of Falladio, who, hence, was enabled to make an illustration of them in his work on the baths of the Romans. The baths were connected with the private palace of Titus, in which, according to Pliny, was preserved the group of the Laocoon, which was discovered in 1506, "in domo Titi" as Pliny says.

When Titus (AD 80) constructed his Thermae upon this site, he availed himself of the buildings of his predecessors, and erected vaults and walls in the apartments in order to form a substruction for his baths, which consequently lie directly over the more ancient constructions. Domitian, Trajan, and other emperors, enlarged or altered the design towards the N.E. The Baths of Titus, which were constructed, as known from contemporary historians, in great haste, occupied a space beyond the Via Polveriera to the N.W. of the Colosseum, and covered an area of about 1150 ft. by 850. Those of Trajan, begun by Domitian, extended in the direction of S. Pietro in Vincoli, and are supposed to have occupied an area of 600 by 500 ft.

The crypt under the church of San Martino formed part of these baths. One of the hemicycles was converted by the French into a powder magazine (Polveriera), which gives a name to the adjoining street. The other forms, with the adjacent vaults, a kind of terrace, from which the best view of the ruins is obtained. On the side nearest the Colosseum are the ruins of a semicircular theatre, with some remains of seats. The chambers of the Palace of Nero lie under the baths in an oblique direction, and are divided by walls and vaults, one set opening to the S. and the other to the N. Among the more ancient remains may be traced a large oblong square, originally forming an open court; it was surrounded on 3 sides by columns, the places of some of which can still be made out. The ruins of the fountain which occupied the centre are also visible. Further on are a bath-room and another hall, with a niche and pedestal for a statue, where it is said the Meleager of the Vatican stood.

Opening upon this, and extending along one of the longest sides, are the principal apartments. The largest is opposite the fountain; one of those at the side is pointed out as the place where the Laocoon was discovered in the pontificate of Leo X., although it is proved on the clearest evidence that it was found in the Vigna de'Fredis, between the Sette Sale and S. M. Maggiore. The walls still retain their ancient stucco, and are beautifully painted.

On the northern side of these chambers runs a long corridor, a kind of cryptoporticus, discovered in 1813. It is celebrated for its beautifully painted ceiling, the colours of which 'are still vivid, though the walls are damp, the whole corridor a few years back having been partly filled with earth. The vault is pierced with several square openings, through which Raphael is said to have gained access, and admitted the light necessary for copying the paintings. These interesting works are the most perfect specimens of ancient paintings which have been preserved in Rome; they represent arabesques of flowers, birds, and animals, all of which exhibit the most graceful outline and remarkable facility of design.

One of the curiosities in this corridor is a painting, now almost effaced, representing 2 snakes with a basin between them; the inscription explains the meaning of this mystic emblem. A room bears the name of Rhea Sylvia, from the painting on the vault representing the Birth of Romulus. In excavating, a small chapel, dedicated to S. Felicitas, was discovered near the modern entrance to the Camere Esquiline, the name by which those now subterranean halls are designated. It is supposed to have been used for Christian worship as early as the 6th centy.; on the wall was found a Christian statues, forming a pendent to the corresponding hall of La Polveriera. The confused masses of brickwork, extending towards S. Martino ai Monti, and S. Pietro in Vincoli, require reference to a good plan of the Baths.

Many of the other apartments retain traces of very rich decorations, but the ruins are so confused that no very intelligible plan has been yet made out of them. In the time of Leo X. some excavations were made which brought to light the frescoes of the corridors. Vasari mentions this fact in his Life of Giovanni da Udine, and states that Giovanni and Raphael were so much pleased with the paintings, that they studied and copied them for the Loggie of the Vatican. The idle story which attributes to the jealousy of Raphael the filling up of the chambers after he had copied the paintings, is contradicted by the fact that the great painter, who was too enthusiastic an antiquary to have even suggested their concealment, proposed a plan to Leo X. for a complete survey and restoration of ancient Rome. The chambers and the paintings are described by several writers of the 17th century, but they were filled up afterwards to prevent their becoming a shelter for banditti; in 1776 they were again partially opened by Mini, for the purpose of publishing the paintings; and in 1813 the whole site was cleared as we now see it, when Romanis' work, entitled 'Le Camere Esquiline,' was published. There is no doubt that many interesting fragments still remain buried under the accumulations of soil.

To the E. and at a short distance from the baths is the ruin called the Sette Sale, a massive building of 2 stories, one of which is still buried; it was a reservoir connected with the Thermae. The interior is divided into 9 parallel compartments by 8 walls. These compartments communicate by 4 arched apertures, placed so that the spectator, standing in the first chamber, can look obliquely through all of them at once. The length of the central compartment is 40 feet, the height 9 feet, and the breadth 13 feet. The walls still retain the incrustation formed by the water.