Thermae Thermae In ancient Rome, thermae (from Greek θερμός "thermos", "hot") and balneae (from Greek βαλανεῖον "balaneion") were facilities for bathing. "Thermae" usually refers to the large imperial bath complexes, while "balneae" were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed in great numbers throughout Rome. Most Roman cities had at least one, if not many, such buildings, which were centres not only for bathing, but socializing, and reading as well. Roman bath-houses were also provided for private villas, town houses, and forts. They were supplied with water from an adjacent river or stream, or more normally, by an aqueduct. The water
Ancient Roman pottery a wide range of public and private buildings. Usually between 22 and 50 cm high and 27 to 48 cm wide, plaques were perhaps typically arranged in bands or friezes. Subjects are usually drawn from mythology. They cease to be found after the middle of the 2nd century; they had to compete with moulded stucco as well as wall-paintings. In archaeology, bricks and tiles, especially when encountered only in fragmentary form, are often classified under the generic term ceramic building material or CBM. Ancient Roman pottery Pottery was produced in enormous quantities in ancient Rome, mostly for utilitarian purposes. It