The Baths of Caracalla, dedicated in AD 216, are the best preserved of the massive imperial bathing complexes at Rome. The principal bathing suite, comprising a cold, a warm and a hot room (frigidarium, tepidarium and caldarium), formed a central axis about which other rooms were symmetrically arranged.
After exercising in the colonnaded courtyards, bathers progressed through the frigidarium and tepidarium to the hottest room, the vast domed caldarium. Here dirt was scraped away using a metal instrument called a strigil.
The route was then reversed, ending with a cold plunge to close the pores. Other public facilities included smaller plunge baths, sweating rooms (laconica), a swimming pool, changing rooms (apodyteria), latrines, a library and extensive gardens.
The interior of the baths was richly decorated with black and white mosaic floors, coloured marble wall panels, multi-coloured plastered or mosaic vaults and statues.
