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
Roman Thermae of Maximinus was constructed. At the end of the 3rd century, the complex was profoundly remodelled, resulting in the substantial reduction in the total area occupied by the thermae; the remodelling of the urban structure was part of the ongoing redesign of Bracara Augusta, into the provincial capital of Gallaecia by Diocletian. This meant that by the 4th century even the theatre was deactivated, and the stones used to construct the city walls. In fact, the remnants encountered confirm the existence of three periods of construction, starting with the first, which corresponds to the pre-thermae period of Julius Caesar and Claudius. The