Thermae would be heated by a log fire before being channelled into the hot bathing rooms. The design of baths is discussed by Vitruvius in "De Architectura". "Thermae, balneae, balineae, balneum" and "balineum" may all be translated as "bath" or "baths", though Latin sources distinguish among these terms. "Balneum" or "balineum", derived from the Greek signifies, in its primary sense, a bath or bathing-vessel, such as most persons of any consequence among the Romans possessed in their own houses, and hence the chamber which contained the bath, which is also the proper translation of the word "balnearium". The diminutive "balneolum" is
Battle of Thermae Battle of Thermae The Battle of Thermae was a field engagement during the First Punic War that took place in 259 BC near Thermae on the northern coast of Sicily. The Carthaginian general Hamilcar surprised and defeated 6,000 allied troops of Rome. Separated from the main Roman force of 20,000 men due to disagreements, the allies were attacked and crushed near Thermae, losing 4,000–6,000 killed. Hamilcar went on to capture Enna and Camarina in the aftermath. Hamilcar, the commander of the Carthaginian land forces in Sicily, had stationed his army near Panormus. He received word that the Romans and their