Archaeological Museum of Bologna

Museo Civico Archeologico
Via dell'Archiginnasio 2 - 40124 Bologna
Tel. 051.27.57.211

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Via de' Musei 8 – 40124 Bologna
Tel. 051.27.57.211 - Fax 051.26.65.16
mca@comune.bologna.it

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Collections / Sections / The Epigraphic Collection

Stone plaque from a Roman bath (cast)

The bath was a public space very frequented by all the citizens, adults and young people.

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The plaque, the original of which is in the entrance hall of the Palazzo Albergati in Via Saragozza, bears two inscriptions, both of which refer to the baths of Bononia. The text of the first mentions the emperor Augustus, who promoted construction of the baths that were then restored by Nero or, rather, Caligula, whose name was eliminated, as it was subjected to damnatio memoriae. According to the second inscription, dating to the second half of the 2nd century AD, Titus Aviasius Servandus bequeathed the sum of 400,000 sesterces to his son Seneca for works on the baths, to ensure that the income from this sum would always give adults and young people free entry to the baths. Although the excavations have not identified the precise location of the baths of Bononia, based on the discovery of these stelae near the Porta Saragozza, where a secondary branch of the aqueduct ends, they can hypothetically be located in the south-west quadrant of the city.

Provenance: Bologna, via Saragozza, Palazzo Albergati
Datation: 1st and 2nd century AD
Material: Marble
Dimensions: Height: 90 cm; width: 1,19 cm
Inventory #: 19167

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Exhibition rooms | Room XII - Roman Bologna