Thermae be applied to those magnificent edifices which grew up under the empire, in place of the simple balneae of the republic, and which comprised within their range of buildings all the appurtenances belonging to the Greek gymnasia, as well as a regular establishment appropriated for bathing. Writers, however, use these terms without distinction. Thus the baths erected by Claudius Etruscus, the freedman of the Emperor Claudius, are styled by Statius "balnea", and by Martial "Etrusci thermulae". In an epigram by "Martial"—"subice balneum thermis"—the terms are not applied to the whole building, but to two different chambers in the same edifice.
Roman Thermae (Varna) Karel and Hermann Škorpil. Further parts of the ruins were uncovered between 1959 and 1971 by a team under M. Mirchev. In August 2013, Varna Municipality ordered an urgent reconservation project for the Roman Thermae worth 125,000 Bulgarian leva. The remains of the Roman Thermae lie in the southeastern part of modern Varna, at the intersection of San Stefano Street and Han Krum Street. They have an area of some , with the vaults reaching up to in height. By area, the Roman baths of Varna are the fourth-largest among the preserved thermae in Europe, behind the Baths of Caracalla