L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 18 L'Italo-Americano SIMONE SANNIO F or centuries ancient Romans h ave built roads and bridges con- necting all of their conquered territories, triumphal arches celebrating their victories, aqueducts supply- ing water to the new settlements. Alongside their military achieve- ments they also built squares, villas, theaters, and – last but not least – public baths: in other words, they also knew very well how to best enjoy life. It is said that a Roman Emperor himself – when asked why did he bathe as much as once a day – said that unfortunately he did not have the time to indulge in such pleasure more frequently. The Roman baths (or thermae, as they were called back then in Latin) were more than pioneering sanitary facilities : they w ere a mos t important community gathering place. Let's take a plunge into the Roman era by visiting the Baths of Caracalla, one of the largest and best-preserved impe- rial bath complex in the Eternal City. Also known as Thermae Antoniniane, the Terme di Cara- calla were built since AD 212 at the behest of Emperor Caracalla and were then completed by his successors. Inaugurated in 216 in the southern part of the city, close to the ancient Appian Way, they were to remain the largest Roman baths for s everal decades, until the construction – in the years from 298 to 306 – of the Terme di Diocleziano (now converted, in part, to the Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli, the church of S an Bernardo alle Terme, and the National Roman Museum). Despite being restored several times during their early history, the Caracalla Baths had ceased to perform their original function already by the year 537, as a result of the First Siege of Rome, during which Vitiges, King of the Ostrogoths, severed the city's aqueducts in order to cut its water supply. However it may be, for more than three centuries before their eventual abandonment the Terme di Caracalla had prospered. Not only had they been the favorite meeting place for generations of bathers regardless of age, gender, and social class (the place was apparently free and open to everyone, with different spaces and timetables for men and women): because of their mag- nificence, the Baths were also considered one of Rome's real seven wonders. While it is not hard to imagine the thermae's original grandeur by looking at the massive present-day ruins, it is more difficult for us to under- stand its structure and multiple functions at first glance. For this reason, the local museum is just now starting to experiment with a new 3D viewer that allows all visitors to see in real time a reconstruction of the Caracalla Baths as they were 1800 years ago. It appears that the rectangu- lar building – which could prob- ably host thousands of visitors simultaneously – included swim- ming pools, two different gyms, toilets, dressing rooms, foun- tains, and various galleries, but it was also surrounded by a theater, some shops, a sanctuary, and two libraries. The thermal areas, in particu- lar, were divided into three dif- ferent spaces, called tepidarium, calidar ium , and fr igidar ium respectively. After exercising in the gym and undressing in the so-called apodyterium, the nude bathers entered the first of these zones, where they covered their bodies with oil and other oint- ments and took a warm bath, then moving on to the second, hot-watered space and finally to the last cold water room. But people did not come to this or other thermae just to bathe. The Caracalla Baths w ere als o a place where rich people could flaunt their own wealth, where philos ophers and politicians could harangue the crowds and seek consensus among them, w hile everybody els e could socialize, relax and have fun: just think that carved into the edge of the building's main swimming pool, called natatio, is found a tabula lusoria, a particular kind of gaming board on which peo- ple could play w hile s eated directly in the water. Unfortunately, not much of this vibrant and lively environ- ment remains today, and one can only imagine how a day at the Terme di Caracalla might have been like back in the days of the Roman Empire. What is more, over the centuries the abandoned baths have also been deprived of most of their precious materials and unique works of art, being used as a real quarry for trea- sures. Just to give some exam- ples, a granite column from the thermae was raised in Florence's Piazza Santa Trinita in 1563, several figured capitals were re- used in the construction of the Pisa Cathedral and in the local Chiesa di Santa Maria in Traste- vere, and two gray basins were turned into fountains for Rome's Piazza Farnese. Pope Paul III, in particular, was responsible for the unearthing and dislocation of many of the Baths' treasures, with which he hoped to adorn Palazzo Farnese, his family's grand palace in Rome: among these treasures were also the two most important marble groups found in the Terme di Caracalla, that is the so-called Farnese Bull and Farnese Hercules, both of which are now hosted – together with the rest of the family collec- tion – in N aples ' N ational Archaeological Museum. As for the gorgeous mosaics that once covered different parts of the thermae, some of them are still visible in their original location, some were lost, and some other – such as the famous Mosaics of the Athletes – have been moved to the Vatican Museums. So, what's left of the Terme di Caracalla's uniqueness today? The fact that these majestic ruins now serve as the summer venue of the Rome Opera House, as well as the presence here of a w ork by contemporary A rte Povera artist Michelangelo Pisto- letto (The Third Paradise), seem to suggest a clear answer: despite their ruined condition, the Baths still represent the continuation of ancient art in the present era. No wonder that – since Roman times to the present day – they have ins pired the cons truction of many other buildings all over the world: among them, we find the Chicago Union Station and the original Pennsylvania Station in New York City. The Caracalla Baths, a plunge into the Roman Empire In Roman times, baths were open to all social classes and to both men and women The Caracalla Baths were built starting in 212 AD on the behest of Emperor Caracalla HERITAGE HISTORY IDENTITY TRADITIONS

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