The Baths of Caracalla

It's been an exciting spring here in Rome.  Not only have we been following all of the developments with the new Pope, but we've been lucky enough to have some friends and family out to visit, too.  First, my law school roommate Virginia (otherwise affectionately known as "Roommate") and her husband, Joey, came to visit, and then Tom's parents, Diane and Jerry, spent several days with us here in Rome.  Most recently, my freshman year roommate, Kat (who I visited in Sweden last fall) came out for Easter.  She was a real trooper, considering that she had to deal with the aftermath of my purse getting stolen (including filing a report in a station full of frat-boy-like cops) and then came down with a stomach bug.  But, despite all this, we still had a great time!

Rommate and I at the Baths of Caraculla

Really, one of the best parts about having guests in town (other than spending time with them, of course) is getting to visit (or re-visit) some of Rome's best sites. I will admit that on a day-to-day level, Tom and I don't always take full advantage of living here.  First, there's the practical issue that the Academy is a bit isolated from the center of the city, and since we have good food, friends, and nice outdoor space here, there's not a huge incentive to ever leave! On another level, though, after a few weeks in a new place, you just really aren't in "tourist" mode anymore.  Sure, Rome is wonderful and I enjoy taking in the sites and culture when I can, but since it's home for the year, there's really sense of urgency to be doing something all of the time.  I mean, when I lived in San Francisco, I spent many Saturday afternoons indoors reading or watching movies or doing other projects despite the fact that I could have instead walked to the ocean or Alamo Square or headed out to Alcatraz (as all the tourists would be doing).  So, it's really the same thing here.  As crazy as this might sound, living in Rome now just seems like "normal life."

Inside the Baths

So, that's my long way of saying that it's nice when guests come to town and we get that kick in the butt to really get out and explore and enjoy the city with them.  And I thought I'd share one of those recent explorations with you, which was visiting the Baths of Caracalla (or, as I sometimes call them, the Baths of Cara-Cata-Bala-Whatcha-ma-call-it).

The last day of Virginia and Joey's visit actually happened to overlap with the first day of Diane and Jerry's visit, and Tom's suggested visiting the Baths together, which was a great idea, since I actually hadn't seen them yet, either!  

Diane and Jerry in the Baths

I realize this might sound a bit crazy (even despite my disclaimer above), since I've been living in Rome for well over six months now.  To be fair, I have admired the ruins from the outside many times, but I've just never gone in.

Really, there are four reasons behind this: 1) like most touristy things in Rome, it costs money (and I'm rather thrifty), 2) I figured we'd go with guests at some point anyway (which turned out to be accurate), 3) without Tom, I'd really have no idea what anything was (since Italians are apparently opposed to any sort of informational signage), and 4) the outside looked cool, but not that cool.  

Gull in the Baths

I'll be the first to admit that I was wrong about number (4) though, because it turns out that the Baths of Caracalla are now one of my favorite sites in Rome (perhaps second only to Castel Sant'Angelo).  Maybe the site isn't as exciting as the Colosseum or as impressive as the Forum, but it's still high on my list, since it's definitely the place where I would have spent all of my free time if I had been an ancient Roman.    

Basically, the Baths were a huge sports/health complex, built around 212-216 AD and used for over 300 years.  I like to think of the Baths like the equivalent of a modern-day YMCA.  But really, you'd have to make that YMCA about five times bigger and a hundred times fancier.  Tom assured me that even women would have been able to use the baths, although there likely would have been different time blocks for male and female use (which is just fine with me, since, in my experience, men tend to just sit around with the weights and then, when they finally do use them, end up making really strange noises that I really didn't want to hear.  Also, many people would have been naked, so there's that, too).

Beautiful Flooring

In ancient times, the Baths housed a big swimming pool (I guess my ancient self would have had to embrace this form of exercise more), as well as hot, medium, and cold rooms (with pools) to relax in (in succession).  There were also gyms for wrestling and boxing, free weights, and (if you believe some sources) perhaps even libraries so that you could brush up on various topics while walking in the courtyard.  (Of course, so as to not interfere with your walking, you might have one of your slaves read the book to you...)  There was marble everywhere, and the pools were adorned with various statues and  beautiful tile mosaics, depicting various "water" themes, like fish, plant life, and other imagined sea creatures.

Although a surprising amount of the complex is still intact (including many of the beautiful tile floors), you do need to use a good bit of imagination to fully appreciate the grandeur of the place.  Still, while staring up at the enormous walls, walking around the grounds, or admiring the tile patterns, it's impossible not to be in awe of the Romans' architectural, technological, and artistic abilities. I mean, just to have functional plumbing and heating/cooling capacity for a place of that size is completely amazing to me (although, like many things in Rome, it is a bit disturbing to our modern sensibilities that the heating was supplied by slave labor).

Artist's Reconstruction of the Baths in Ancient Times

Even though I'll never get to live out my dream of swimming/working out at a true Roman bath, I suppose that getting to visit the ruins and sharing the experience with our friends and family is a pretty good consolation.  In May and June, we'll have another run of guests, and I'm looking forward to exploring the city with all of them, too.

Alla Prossima,
Erin

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Sun, April 7:  We alternate between really gorgeous warmish (60+ degree) sunny days, and colder rainy ones.  It's been this way fora good month now, so hopefully consistently nice weather will be here soon!