Bath Suite
The principal bath house at Bancroft Villa consisted of the:
frigidarium (cold room)

tepidarium (warm room)

caldarium (hot room) with a hot plunge bath

apotyderium (changing room)

cold plunge bath

soakroom


 Wall painting with fish design
Wall paintings of marine scenes from the new bath suite.

Plan of bath suiteFrigidarium, the floor was decorated by a mosaic with a red boarder and white centre ApotyderiumFrigidariumTepidarium & remains of the hypocaust floorCaldarium & remains of the hypocaust floorCold Plunge Bath, the bath was pianted red and had a tiled floor, the walls of the room were probably covered with the fish wall plasterStokeroom
Explore the map and Click on the Mosaic to find out more!

Ligulae & Spatulae, they have long handles and small spoon or cup shaped ends.
Ligulae - cup shaped scoops that can be used for removing earwax, aplying makeup or ointments and as a medical instrument.
Spatulae - a small spatula that can be used as a medical instrument or craft tool.
Manicure set of tweezers and nail cleaners.


Bathing was an important part of Roman life. Roman baths were used not only for keeping clean and healthy but were also often major venues for socialising and business negotiations, rather like the equivalent of the golf course.

Public bath houses were available to both the rich and poor - although the rich often also had their own bath suites such as the ones at the first Bancroft Villa and the final Grand Villa.

Roman baths contain a series of rooms and baths which the bather moves through from cold to hot and then in the reverse. They work like modern Turkish baths aiming to induce a sweat. Oil is then applied to the skin, which is then scraped off with the dirt and body toxins using an instrument called a strigil.


Hypocaust system
Floor and wall heating
A furnace in the stokeroom provides both hot water for the baths and heat for the rooms. The walls are heated by air circulating through hollow tiles. The floor is raised on tiled columns that allows hot air to circulate under and heat the floor. This type of heating is called a hypocaust system and permitted Romans to have a central heating system.