Terme Taurine, also known as the Taurine Baths, is a former Roman bathhouse complex located outside of the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

city of

Civitavecchia Civitavecchia (; meaning "ancient town") is a city and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Rome in the central Italian region of Lazio. A sea port on the Tyrrhenian Sea, it is located west-north-west of Rome. The harbour is formed by two pier ...

.Informational panel located at the Terme Taurine cite, produced by the Universa De Roma Departmento De Biologia and the Commune of Civitavechia. The site contains ruins dating to both

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and Imperial era Rome, with the oldest structures at Terme Taurine having been built in the first century BC. In modern era, the baths are considered an

archaeological park An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and ...

History

Terme Taurine was first established on a hill overlooking Civitavecchia during the Roman Republican era in 86 BC. The bathhouse was known as the Taurine Baths in reference to the nearby Ancient Roman village of Aquae Tauri. Local legend holds that the hot spring that the baths were fed by was created when a bull stamped his hoof on ground, causing hot water to spring forth. The republic era baths at Terme Taurine featured beauty parlors, changing rooms, and hot and cold pools. Several of these pools and the mosaics adorning them can still be visited. The baths also once held a shrine to water nymphs, who were believed by the Romans to be the guardian spirits of underground springs. The complex at Terme Taurine was greatly expanded by Roman emperor Hadrian (117 - 138 AD) from 123 to 136 AD. The Imperial era baths were open to all social classes, with some people being granted free admission. A library and shops were also part of the building. The baths became a popular stop-over site for visitors to the nearby port.Heinz, W. (1986). Die ''Terme Taurine'' von Civitavecchia – ein römisches Heilbad. ''Antike Welt,'' ''17''(4), 22-43. Terme Taurine remained in use until the mid 6th century, when a war between the

Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...

and

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

resulted in them being looted. Much of the marble walling of the baths was stripped off, and the baths fell into disuse. In 1770 the Papal States began to excavate parts of the site and built an Italian-style garden nearby, which can still be seen. The baths reopened in 2020 after a brief period of restoration. Local notables have proposed Terme Taurine be nominated as a UNESCO world heritage site.

Notable visitors

During the reign of the Emperor Commodus,

Aelius Lampridius The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the sim ...

recorded that the emperor, upon finding his bathwater lukewarm, had an attendant thrown into an oven while visiting Terme Taurine.Historia Augusta. C 1, 9. - Historia Augusta Bd. 1, eingeleitet und übersetzt von E. Hohl, bearbeitet und übersetzt von E. Merten (1976) 138. - E. Mer-ten, Bäder und Badegepflogenheiten in der Darstel-lung der Historia Augusta (Antiquitas. Reihe 4, Bd. 16. 1983) 123. Roman Poet

Rutilius Claudius Namatianus Rutilius Claudius Namatianus (fl. 5th century) was a Roman Imperial poet, best known for his Latin poem, ''De reditu suo'', in elegiac metre, describing a coastal voyage from Rome to Gaul in 416. The poem was in two books; the exordium of the firs ...

visited the baths in the 5th century and described them in his travelogue.

References

{{Authority control Archaeological sites in Italy Roman archaeology Roman sites in Italy