Pompeii excavation unearths private spa for wooing wealthy guests

A large and sophisticated thermal bath complex that was believed to have been used by its owner to woo well-heeled guests has been discovered among the ruins of ancient Pompeii.

The baths were found during excavations of a home on Via di Nola in Regio IX, a wealthy district of the city before it was destroyed by the AD79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

The home spa is one of the largest of a handful of its kind found so far at the Pompeii archaeological park in southern Italy.

The complex was connected to an exquisite banquet room replete with frescoes depicting characters inspired by the Trojan war that was unearthed last year, leading experts to conclude that the dwelling, believed to have belonged to a member of Pompeii’s elite, was used as a stage for the owner to affirm their social status, possibly even to promote candidacy in elections.

Excavations at the site have yielded many other discoveries since 2023. Photograph: SV_Pap_Pompeii/Pompeii archaeological park

“It’s an example of how the Roman domus served as a stage for an art and culture show, which the owner staged in order to gain votes or ingratiate himself with the goodwill of the guests,” said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of Pompeii archaeological park.

The spa complex was equipped to host up to 30 people, who would have moved between three pools: the caldarium (hot), the tepidarium (lukewarm) and the frigidarium (cold). The cold room, which contained a courtyard with a portico, was particularly impressive, the experts said.

The baths are believed to have provided guests with an opportunity to relax after the sumptuous banquets. “Everything was functional to the staging of a ‘show’, at the centre of which was the owner himself,” Zuchtriegel said.

The spa complex was equipped to cater for up to 30 people. Photograph: SV_Pap_Pompeii/Pompeii archaeological park

The banquet room is known as the black room because of the colour of its walls, which were probably intended to mask the soot from burning oil lamps. The walls are adorned with artworks featuring mythical Greek characters, including one of Helen of Troy meeting Paris, the prince of Troy, for the first time.

The room also opens on to a courtyard with a long staircase leading to the property’s first floor. On the arches of the staircase, there is a charcoal drawing of two pairs of gladiators and what archaeologists said appeared to be “an enormous stylised phallus”.

Excavations in Regio IX have yielded plenty of other discoveries since they began in February 2023, including a home containing a cramped bakery where enslaved people were believed to have been imprisoned and made to produce bread.