– courtesy of the Institute of Archaeology, Serbia
From Serbia comes the story of a technically-impressive and luxurious Roman bath complex discovered for the first time.
Containing three different bathing pools and a sauna, it was designed for Emperor Maximinus Daza, who briefly held the throne before dying in a civil war.
The bath complex, known in Latin as a balneum, was found at the archaeological site of Vrelo-Šarkamen which has been under excavation for decades in Serbia’s far east. In the southwest corner of the property, a monumental stone tower was known to have existed, yet archaeologists were completely unaware that the bottom levels held the balneum.
The suite of rooms exhibit a design which researchers from Serbia’s Institute of Archeology had never seen before in the Roman Empire, as baths across the realm were typically built in lateral layouts to make piping and plumbing more straightforward. Instead, Daza’s balneum at Vrelo-Šarkamen was circular, with a domed ceiling and high windows.
The bottom floor was where the bathing equipment had been installed, including a furnace where the fire to heat the floors would have been kindled, and the setting for a large copper boiler which would have provided hot water for the pools. The boiler itself was absent.
Also present was a sudatorium or sauna, which lent the word for the modern Italian word for “sweated,” sudato.
Galerius Valerius Maximinus, born “Daza” in what is today Serbia, held power as a lesser ruler as part of the Diocletian Tetrarch system of monarchy. The empire was divided between west and east, and each one was ruled by an emperor and a junior ruler.
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Daza was appointed as the junior by his uncle, also called Galerius, a controversial choice that launched the civil war which not only collapsed the fledgling system of government, but ended Daza’s life as well after losing a battle to a rival called Licinius.
In a random bit of trivia completely unrelated to the bathing complex, which archaeologists say will continue to be excavated in the hope of unearthing more information about it, Maximinus Daza was the last man in world history to hold the title of Pharaoh of Egypt, as he was a pagan, not a Christian emperor.
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