Pompeii archaeologists find 'once-in-a-century' private spa complex alongside banquet hall

euronews (in English)

The extraordinary discovery reveals how elite Roman homes were much more than just private residences - they were grand stages for art, culture, and political networking.

Transcript

00:00The members of the Dominated Center of Pompeii set up huge spaces in their homes to host

00:24banquets.

00:25These had the function of creating consensus, of promoting an electoral campaign, of concluding

00:32business.

00:33Often these banquets were attended by much more humble people, the clients, the freeloaders,

00:40the former slaves of these gentlemen.

00:43So for them it was an opportunity to show the comfort in which they lived, to get people

00:52to these celebrations, to these banquets, but also, and this is the case here, to get

00:57them to go and have a nice treatment in the spa of the house.

01:02We have here perhaps one of the largest thermal complexes in a private house of Pompeii,

01:07and since it was often customary to go first to take a bath, then to have a banquet, this

01:15could be done here, all inside the house.

01:19There is room for about thirty people who could do the whole course, which could also

01:25be done in the public baths.

01:27So there is the calidarium, the very hot environment, the tepidarium and also a large

01:35pool with cold water.

01:36But there is also, and we are right here, the dressing room with benches that make you

01:41sense the number of people who could access these spaces.

01:49For more information, visit www.fema.gov

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