DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42778#0177
THE THERM/E OR BATHS.
109
when comparing them with other plans of similar design. It was
reserved, therefore, for the students of the French Academy to
publish in two important works the most complete sets of drawings
of two of the Thermae, already referred to, showing the actual
remains existing and conjectural restorations, which not only cor-
roborate one another so far as the decoration of the Thermae is
concerned, but suggest the type which was adopted in Roman
monumental edifices of the third and fourth centuries after Christ.
With regard to the decoration of the principal halls and courts
we may note that the series of two or three tiers of niches, flanked
by marble columns carried on corbels and supporting entablature
and pediment, were securely fixed to the wall by these corbels and
by the entablature blocks built into the wall (Plate L). These
solid blocks of marble being sunk two feet into the wall, must have
been built-in whilst the carcase was being constructed. Owing to
their height, many of these marble blocks have escaped the plunderer
and some still exist in the outer walls of the Church of S. Maria degli
Angeli. Again, all the niches were regularly constructed in brick
of the required depth. These facts proved that the whole design
was conceived by the architect prior to the commencement of the
work, and that as soon as the plan was set out, it ruled the whole
of the structure both constructively and decoratively.
For this reason it is not necessary to describe each set of Thermae
separately, nor is any lengthy account required. The columns
employed throughout the Thermae were generally of marble, as
also their entablatures ; the shafts of the same, whether large or
small, were all monoliths, and of various kinds. The great shafts
of the central hall of Caracalla, 38 feet high and 5 feet 4 inches
in diameter, were in granite ; others of smaller size were of porphyry,
oriental alabaster, giallo antico, and numerous other marbles
from the Greek islands. The larger columns supported the vaults
or the floors of the balconies overlooking the central hall, or formed
screens between the halls ; they likewise constituted the frontage
to the halls round the xystus, or carried the roofs of the numerous
peristyles, so that they were all constructional features. The
smaller columns of the niches and the whole of the marble facings
were decorative, and were not fixed till after the completion of the
carcase. The halls and courts were all paved with marble mosaic
in diverse patterns, with figures of gladiators, athletes, tritons, and
geometrical designs and borders. The steps, linings of baths, seats,
109
when comparing them with other plans of similar design. It was
reserved, therefore, for the students of the French Academy to
publish in two important works the most complete sets of drawings
of two of the Thermae, already referred to, showing the actual
remains existing and conjectural restorations, which not only cor-
roborate one another so far as the decoration of the Thermae is
concerned, but suggest the type which was adopted in Roman
monumental edifices of the third and fourth centuries after Christ.
With regard to the decoration of the principal halls and courts
we may note that the series of two or three tiers of niches, flanked
by marble columns carried on corbels and supporting entablature
and pediment, were securely fixed to the wall by these corbels and
by the entablature blocks built into the wall (Plate L). These
solid blocks of marble being sunk two feet into the wall, must have
been built-in whilst the carcase was being constructed. Owing to
their height, many of these marble blocks have escaped the plunderer
and some still exist in the outer walls of the Church of S. Maria degli
Angeli. Again, all the niches were regularly constructed in brick
of the required depth. These facts proved that the whole design
was conceived by the architect prior to the commencement of the
work, and that as soon as the plan was set out, it ruled the whole
of the structure both constructively and decoratively.
For this reason it is not necessary to describe each set of Thermae
separately, nor is any lengthy account required. The columns
employed throughout the Thermae were generally of marble, as
also their entablatures ; the shafts of the same, whether large or
small, were all monoliths, and of various kinds. The great shafts
of the central hall of Caracalla, 38 feet high and 5 feet 4 inches
in diameter, were in granite ; others of smaller size were of porphyry,
oriental alabaster, giallo antico, and numerous other marbles
from the Greek islands. The larger columns supported the vaults
or the floors of the balconies overlooking the central hall, or formed
screens between the halls ; they likewise constituted the frontage
to the halls round the xystus, or carried the roofs of the numerous
peristyles, so that they were all constructional features. The
smaller columns of the niches and the whole of the marble facings
were decorative, and were not fixed till after the completion of the
carcase. The halls and courts were all paved with marble mosaic
in diverse patterns, with figures of gladiators, athletes, tritons, and
geometrical designs and borders. The steps, linings of baths, seats,