DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.44944#0590
518 theatrum traiani—thermae agrippae
Theatrum Traiani : a theatre built by Trajan in the campus Martius, and
destroyed by Hadrian, who pretended that this was in accordance with
Trajan’s instructions (Hist. Aug. Hadr. 9). Pausanias (v. 12. 6) is
more likely to be referring to the Amphitheatrum Castrense (q.v.) :
cf. PIJ 249, n. 74.
The(n)sarium Vetus in Capitolio : see Aedes Tensarum.
Thermae Agrippae * (Agrippianae, Not. ; Greg. Magn.) : the earliest of the
great baths of Rome. According to Cassius Dio (liii. 27. 1) Agrippa
built a hot-air bath (τό πυριατήριον το λακωνικόν) 1 in 25 b.c. at the same
time as the Pantheon (q.v.) ; and at his death in 12 he left to the
Roman people, for their free use, a βαλανέΐον (liv. 29. 4 ; Sid. Apoll.
carm. 23. 496 : balnea . . . quae Agrippa dedit). As the Aqua Virgo
(q.v.), which supplied these baths with water, was not completed until
19 b.c., it is probable that the laconicum was the original part of what
afterwards became a complete establishment for bathing, which was
then regularly called thermae. Agrippa adorned these baths with
works of art, among which are mentioned paintings (Plin. NH xxxv. 26),
and the Apoxyomenos of Lysippus, which was set up in front of them
(id. xxxiv. 62). The hot rooms he is said to have finished with fresco
on tiles (id. xxxvi. 189).
The thermae were burned in 80 a.d. (Cass. Dio lxvi. 24 : ^aXaraoJ,
but must have been restored by Titus or Domitian, for they are mentioned
by Martial (iii. 20. 15, 36. 6) as much frequented. Another restoration
was carried out by Hadrian (Hist. Aug. Hadr. 19 : Romae instauravit
lavacrum Agrippae; cf. also a reference in CIL vi. 9797—AL 294).
An inscription (vi. 1165) of 344/5 a.d. recording a restoration by Con-
stantius and Constans of ‘ termas vetustate labefactas ’ was found near
the church of S. Maria in Monterone close to the west side of the baths
of Agrippa, and therefore probably refers to them. They are mentioned
in the Regionary Catalogue (Reg. IX), by Sid. Apollinaris (loc. cit.),
and in the sixth century (Greg. Magn. Reg. vi. 42 ; ix. 137 ; Kehr i. 98).
By the seventh century the destruction of the building was well under
way, and that its marble was burned into lime is shown by the name
Calcararium, applied to the immediate vicinity somewhat later (Mirabilia
23 ; Jord. ii. 439 ; LS i. 25). They are, however, mentioned as Thermae
Commodianae in Eins. 1.4; 2. 4 ; 4. 8 ; 8. 6.
The general plan of these thermae is known from a fragment of the
Marble Plan found in 1900 (NS 1900, 633-634 ; BC 1901, 3-19 ; LS ii. 209 ;
Mitt. 1905, 75) ; from drawings and plans of the sixteenth century
(NS 1882, 347-351) when much of the structure was still standing—three
1 The passage continues :
Λακωνικόν yap το γυμνάσιον έπειδήπερ οι Λακεδαιμόνιοι γυμνοΰσθαί τε εν τω τότε κρόνω και λίπα
άσκεΊν μάλιστα έδόκουν, έπεκάλεσε. For a discussion see Mitt. 1920, 154-168. Λακωνικόν is
here an adjective (see also the translation in the Loeb series) ; while in Vitr. v. 10 and
elsewhere it means a hot room with cold plunge baths in it.
Theatrum Traiani : a theatre built by Trajan in the campus Martius, and
destroyed by Hadrian, who pretended that this was in accordance with
Trajan’s instructions (Hist. Aug. Hadr. 9). Pausanias (v. 12. 6) is
more likely to be referring to the Amphitheatrum Castrense (q.v.) :
cf. PIJ 249, n. 74.
The(n)sarium Vetus in Capitolio : see Aedes Tensarum.
Thermae Agrippae * (Agrippianae, Not. ; Greg. Magn.) : the earliest of the
great baths of Rome. According to Cassius Dio (liii. 27. 1) Agrippa
built a hot-air bath (τό πυριατήριον το λακωνικόν) 1 in 25 b.c. at the same
time as the Pantheon (q.v.) ; and at his death in 12 he left to the
Roman people, for their free use, a βαλανέΐον (liv. 29. 4 ; Sid. Apoll.
carm. 23. 496 : balnea . . . quae Agrippa dedit). As the Aqua Virgo
(q.v.), which supplied these baths with water, was not completed until
19 b.c., it is probable that the laconicum was the original part of what
afterwards became a complete establishment for bathing, which was
then regularly called thermae. Agrippa adorned these baths with
works of art, among which are mentioned paintings (Plin. NH xxxv. 26),
and the Apoxyomenos of Lysippus, which was set up in front of them
(id. xxxiv. 62). The hot rooms he is said to have finished with fresco
on tiles (id. xxxvi. 189).
The thermae were burned in 80 a.d. (Cass. Dio lxvi. 24 : ^aXaraoJ,
but must have been restored by Titus or Domitian, for they are mentioned
by Martial (iii. 20. 15, 36. 6) as much frequented. Another restoration
was carried out by Hadrian (Hist. Aug. Hadr. 19 : Romae instauravit
lavacrum Agrippae; cf. also a reference in CIL vi. 9797—AL 294).
An inscription (vi. 1165) of 344/5 a.d. recording a restoration by Con-
stantius and Constans of ‘ termas vetustate labefactas ’ was found near
the church of S. Maria in Monterone close to the west side of the baths
of Agrippa, and therefore probably refers to them. They are mentioned
in the Regionary Catalogue (Reg. IX), by Sid. Apollinaris (loc. cit.),
and in the sixth century (Greg. Magn. Reg. vi. 42 ; ix. 137 ; Kehr i. 98).
By the seventh century the destruction of the building was well under
way, and that its marble was burned into lime is shown by the name
Calcararium, applied to the immediate vicinity somewhat later (Mirabilia
23 ; Jord. ii. 439 ; LS i. 25). They are, however, mentioned as Thermae
Commodianae in Eins. 1.4; 2. 4 ; 4. 8 ; 8. 6.
The general plan of these thermae is known from a fragment of the
Marble Plan found in 1900 (NS 1900, 633-634 ; BC 1901, 3-19 ; LS ii. 209 ;
Mitt. 1905, 75) ; from drawings and plans of the sixteenth century
(NS 1882, 347-351) when much of the structure was still standing—three
1 The passage continues :
Λακωνικόν yap το γυμνάσιον έπειδήπερ οι Λακεδαιμόνιοι γυμνοΰσθαί τε εν τω τότε κρόνω και λίπα
άσκεΊν μάλιστα έδόκουν, έπεκάλεσε. For a discussion see Mitt. 1920, 154-168. Λακωνικόν is
here an adjective (see also the translation in the Loeb series) ; while in Vitr. v. 10 and
elsewhere it means a hot room with cold plunge baths in it.