Natatio
In Roman antiquity, natatio refers to a larger swimming pool that is mostly located outdoors.
Usually there is a natatio in the building context of larger thermal baths (especially the so-called Kaiserthermen ), but also in villas. Proven in
- the Baths of Diocletian in Rome
- the Baths of Caracalla in Rome
- the Stabian thermal baths in Pompeii
- the Vediusgymnasion in Ephesus
- the bath complex of Sanxay in Gaul
- the villa of Oplontis , today's Torre Annunziata
- the Villa di San Marco in Stabiae , today's Castellammare di Stabia
Apart from natatio , several terms are used synonymously by the ancient authors for larger, unheated bathing or swimming pools, without any precise distinction between them:
- natatorium (more of a place suitable for swimming, not necessarily artificially created)
- piscina (also as a name for a fish pond)
- lutron ( Greek λουτρόν "bath", especially the bath in the palaestra was named like that)
- puteus (excavated basin, well)
The basin was encrusted with marble , as can be proven from the findings in Pompeii, and its dimensions are often relatively small for today's terms.
literature
- Christoph Höcker : Metzler Lexicon of Ancient Architecture. 2nd edition Metzler, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-476-02294-3 . P. 176
- Anthony Rich: Article Balnae in: William Smith: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. John Murray, London, 1875. pp. 189f. Online (LacusCurtius): [1]