Talk:Baths of Caracalla

Dome
Will someone please add some detail about the 35-meter-diameter dome that once covered this structure? 199.46.199.230 (talk) 00:16, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

Hello, I just finished watching a program on the History channel. The show was about Rome and I had seen and heard of all of the structures but one. I have personally been to all places but the Caracalla baths. The story of its construction and upkeep is absolutely fascinating. I like to think of myself as a writer and I would love to do a story from the perspective of the hot bath opperaters. (the people who had to stay below the baths keeping the coals going and such) I have never heard of a story like that and was wondering if anyone knew of good sites that would give as much detail on these hellish rooms. ~lakota_star~

Hey. Who ordered the baths to be condemed?
 * Thakns,
 * BLueEYes73

Hi, Where can I find a decent map of the area surrounding the baths?
 * Thanks
 * John

Map of Rome

The red dot that is located the farthest to the south-east represents the baths. Click on it for a picture and more. By the way, your IP has been used for both nice and "less nice" contributions. This in itself is not uncommon, what with everyone using dynamic IPs and whatnot, but it makes maintaining Wikipedia unnecessarily hard.

Should you like to contribute to Wikipedia in the future, then I encourage you to create a user account. It's free, it's easy and it will stop you getting confused with vandals. When I registered I discovered that there is an active community willing to help new users (like me, or hopefully you) find their way around. If you register, feel free to drop me a line! Shinobu 03:19, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC) Interactive map with names of streets Shinobu 03:25, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Is it true the Baths of Caracalla are slated to be demolished and a Roman Forum Garden arena built on the site? :) 68.32.48.32 18:53, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Young money 2010meals prepared using authentic Roman recipes. Shinobu 03:24, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Date of construction
This article says they were built between 212 and 216. 213 says they were finished then. 216 says they were completed in that year. Which is correct? Any sources? --David Edgar 7 July 2005 08:27 (UTC)


 * First of all, events with a questionable date shouldn't be on the year pages.
 * 212 ~ 219 : www.inforoma.it/terme.htm
 * 212 ~ 217 : http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/romancaracalla/romancaracalla.html
 * 212 ~ 216 : http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Thermae_of_Caracalla.html
 * Contains source list:
 * Fritz Baumgart. A History of Architectural Styles. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1970. NA204.B3513. LC 70-110283. section/elevation drawing showing central portion in elevation, f38, p44. Roger-Viollet, Paris.
 * Werner Blaser and Monica Stucky. Drawings of Great Buildings. Boston: Birkhauser Verlag, 1983. ISBN 3-7643-1522-9. LC 83-15831. NA2706.U6D72 1983. plan and section of Calidarium, p35. — Available at Amazon.com
 * Roger H. Clark and Michael Pause. Precedents in Architecture. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1985. circle and rectangle diagram, p186.
 * Howard Davis. Slide from photographer's collection. PCD.2260.1012.1537.025. PCD.2260.1012.1537.024. PCD.2260.1012.1537.023
 * Sir Banister Fletcher. A History of Architecture. London: The Butterworth Group, 1987. ISBN 0-408-01587-X. LC 86-31761. NA200.F63 1987. construction perspective drawing of the vault of the tepidarium, fig l, p183. construction perspective drawing of semi dome, fig k, p183. — The classic text of architectural history. Expanded 1996 edition available at Amazon.com
 * G.E. Kidder Smith. Looking at Architecture. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Publishers, 1990. ISBN 0-8109-3556-2. LC 90-30728. NA200.S57 1990. discussion p32. photo of half-round exedra, p32.
 * D. S. Robertson. A Handbook of Greek and Roman Architecture. London: Cambridge University Press, 1929. NA260.R6. perspective reconstruction drawing of great hall, plate XVIII.
 * Richard Guy Wilson. McKim, Mead and White, Architects. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 1983. NA737.M4W54. ISBN 0-8478-0491-7. LC 83-4534. floor plan, f277, p215.
 * Kevin Matthews. The Great Buildings Collection on CD-ROM. Artifice, 2001. ISBN 0-9667098-4-5.— Available at Amazon.com
 * xxx ~ 216 : http://itsa.ucsf.edu/~snlrc/encyclopaedia_romana/romanurbs/bathscaracalla.html
 * Contains a list of references:
 * A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (1929) by Samuel Ball Platner and Thomas Ashby
 * A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (1992) by L. Richardson, Jr.; Urbs Roma (1967) by Donald R. Dudley
 * Roman Imperial Architecture (1981) by J. B. Ward-Perkins
 * The Roman Forum (1970) by Michael Grant
 * Roman Sculpture (1992) by Diana E. E. Kleiner
 * An especially thorough guide for the visitor is Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide (1998) by Amanda Claridge
 * The map is from the Roma Urbs Imperatorum Aetate (1979-1984) by Francesco Scagnetti and Giuseppe Grande.
 * 212 ~ 217 : http://web.tiscali.it/romaonlineguide/Pages/eng/rantica/sAWy2.htm
 * Lists 212 as start of construction and 217 as opening to the public.
 * 206 ~ 217 : www.crystalinks.com/romebaths.html
 * "begun by Septimius Severus in 206 and inaugurated in 217 by Caracalla"
 * xxx ~ 217 : http://www.compart-multimedia.com/virtuale/us/roma/terme.htm
 * completed by Caracalla in 217
 * http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Thermae_Antoninianae.html
 * Seems to me a very thorough site. Gives several dates and arguments. And sources also.
 * 212 ~ 217 : http://www.romaviva.com/Terme-di-Caracalla/baths-of-caracalla.htm
 * 212 ~ 217 : http://www.abcroma.com/Monumento_i.asp?N=24
 * building period
 * 206 ~ 216 : http://people.freenet.de/cillenseer/thermae_e.html
 * The construction work was started in the period of the emperor Septimius Severus in 206 a.C. 10 years later - as Caracalla has become emperor - the work was finished.
 * 212 ~ 222 : http://www.livius.org/a/italy/rome/baths_caracalla/baths_caracalla1.html
 * Probably the writer indirectly took the 10 year construction time from a 206 ~ 216 source.
 * xxx ~ 217 : http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/37859/
 * Finished construction date.
 * (and thus ends the list of the first 30 Google hits)
 * Enjoy, Shinobu 7 July 2005 13:32 (UTC)

Much of this information is questionable
For example, they were only 33m long? Is that meters? It's certainly not miles. In comparison, the enclosing walls of the Baths of Trajan were 1,000 meters or more long (Ramages, pg194)

Also, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, they were started in 206 C.E. and completed in 216 C.E. What's with the 212-216 C.E.? Refer to http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9020208. Everything I have seen online says the completion date is 216 C.E. Any input?

Sources:

Ramage, Nancy H. Ramage and Andrew. Roman Art. 4 ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005.

"Caracalla, Baths of." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2005. Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. 4 Dec. 2005 

Kialari 21:50, 4 December 2005 (UTC)
 * The problem with the dates is that various sources give different dates. This is due to the exact dates not being known any more and archaeology not always being an exact science; see the post above. Apart from that, I'd say be bold - you have a source, and there are more sources in the previous post, so edit as you see fit. We could possibly create a section for the construction dates to relate the arguments for the various dates. Shinobu 08:28, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

Are the measurements for the complex right? Frank Sear ("Roman Architecture") has them as 220m by 114m


 * That sounds more likely. commons:Image:Caracalla-Grundriss.jpg has a 200m scale on it. And the outer walls (at least I think that's what they are) look significantly larger than that. --David Edgar 14:01, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

It says that it is 33 ac. That is not correct. According to most of my research, the known largest Roman bath is the Baths of Diocletian

Did the baths cover 25 hectares, or 33 acres: these 2 areas are wildly different. The entry claims that the Ostrogoths destroyed the hydraulic workings in the 6th Century, then near the end of the entry, it is claimed that the hypocaust was operating until the 19th Century. Could we have clarification, please?Mygodfrey (talk) 10:53, 2 October 2011 (UTC)

Who could use it?
Were the Baths of Caracalla really "public" (could the poorest use it?), or was it public with a hefty price? What was the condition to use these baths (how much does it cost, was it all about money)?

These pieces of information are missing. User67QH (talk) 08:58, 22 December 2021 (UTC)

Presentation
Hello! I am a noob and need to do presentation on this! Anyone has fun ideas to get a very good grade? Thank you so much Greeting from your favourite tuvaliaanse person 109.38.139.224 (talk) 08:34, 24 August 2022 (UTC)