Ad Quintum () was an ancient settlement and a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

thermal complex in Illyricum, near Bradashesh, present-day

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. Ad Quintum was a ''

mutatio In the Roman Empire, a ''mansio'' (from the Latin word ''mansus,'' the perfect passive participle of ''manere'' "to remain" or "to stay") was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or ''via'', maintained by the central government for the use ...

'' ("changing station" or "way station") of the

Via Egnatia The Via Egnatia was a road constructed by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. It crossed Illyricum, Macedonia, and Thracia, running through territory that is now part of modern Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, and European Turkey as a contin ...

, which connected western

Illyria In classical and late antiquity, Illyria (; , ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; , ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyrians. The Ancient Gree ...

with eastern

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

, from the two starting points of Dyrrhachium and Apollonia, to

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion () was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' continued to be used as a n ...

. The two branches of the first part of the Via Egnatia converged at Ad Quintum, then the road continued eastwards through the valley of the Shkumbin..

Description

Ad Quintum was located on the

connecting Dyrrhachium and Apollonia with

. The Via Egnatia started with two branches, the northern one from Dyrrhachium, and the southern one from Apollonia. The two branches converged at Ad Quintum, continuing eastwards through the valley of the Shkumbin. The thermal complex was built in the middle of the 2nd century AD, and continued to be populated until the 4th century AD. It was abandoned perhaps due to the civic development of nearby Scampa or to the reduced use of the road station. Its well preserved ruins can be seen near the present-day village Bradashesh, right next to the SH7 road. Compared with other contemporary thermal structures, its surface is rather modest: 41.5 x 11 m². However, the architectural spaces are well structured, including a large ''

Nymphaeum A ''nymphaeum'' (Latin : ''nymphaea'') or ''nymphaion'' (), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs. These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habit ...

'', the ''

frigidarium A ''frigidarium'' is one of the three main bath chambers of a Roman bath or ''thermae'', namely the cold room. It often contains a swimming pool. The succession of bathing activities in the ''thermae'' is not known with certainty, but it is tho ...

'', the ''

apodyterium In ancient Rome, the ''apodyterium'' (from , "undressing room") was the primary entry in the public baths, composed of a large changing room with cubicles or shelves where citizens could store clothing and other belongings while bathing.PBS https: ...

'', the ''

tepidarium The ''tepidarium'' was the warm (''tepidus'') bathroom of the thermae, Roman baths heated by a hypocaust or underfloor heating system. The speciality of a ''tepidarium'' is the pleasant feeling of constant radiant heat, which directly affects the ...

'', the '' calidarium'', the '' laconicum'' and the '' praefurnum''. The bathhouse consists of five main rooms. At the eastern end there is an apsed

exedra An exedra (: exedras or exedrae) is a semicircular architecture, architectural recess or platform, sometimes crowned by a semi-dome, and either set into a building's façade or free-standing. The original Greek word ''ἐξέδρα'' ('a seat ou ...

that was used as a dining room. This connects to the small rectangular cold plunge-bath. The

(undressing room) also survived with fine

paintings Painting is a visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or " support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush. Other implements, ...

and

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es on its walls. Further to the western end of the building the ruins of the laconicum (heated sweating room) can be seen with the traces of the

hypocaust A hypocaust () is a system of central heating in a building that produces and circulates hot air below the floor of a room, and may also warm the walls with a series of pipes through which the hot air passes. This air can warm the upper floors a ...

(underfloor heating), along with the adjacent praefernium (furnace). The site was extensively excavated around 1968 which uncovered a fine

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house in the territory of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Nevertheless, the term "Roman villa" generally covers buildings with the common ...

and a remarkably well-preserved

thermae In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large Roman Empire, imperial public bath, bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed i ...

(bathhouse) taking advantage of the abundant springs nearby.

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References

Bibliography

* * * {{Authority control Archaeological sites in Albania Ad Quintum Former populated places in Albania Illyrian Albania Cities in ancient Illyria Albania in the Roman era Ruins in Albania Tourist attractions in Elbasan County Buildings and structures in Elbasan County

Description

Gallery

See also

References

Bibliography