The magnificent bathing establishments, called Thermæ, to distinguish
them from the ordinary baths, consisted of a long series of halls,
chambers, and courts, all lying on the same level, so that the extent
of surface required for laying out had to be artificially formed
either by the removal or the elevation of the soil. The thermæ founded
by Diocletian and Maximian, and completed by Constantius and
Maximinus, constituted the largest edifice of this kind. At present,
only the great hall, 350 feet by 80 feet, and 96 feet high, converted
into a church by Michael Angelo, exists in a state of tolerable
preservation. The original massive granite pillars, 40 feet high, and
5 feet in diameter, though so sunk into the ground (imitation
pedestals have been put to them) that their full height is nowhere
visible, are still standing; the antique vaulted roof has also been
preserved entire. This circumstance is of great importance for the
lighting up of this vast space--the masses of light falling upon it
at so favourable an angle, that the mind receives the same pleasing
impression at all hours of the day and at all seasons of the year.
Several considerable portions of the adjoining hall are still to be
seen, but, being included within the buildings of the neighbouring
schools and asylums, and partly converted into hay magazines, a clear
and complete survey of them cannot easily be obtained.
The pictures in the church were brought from S. Peter's, and the court
of the monastery, formed with one hundred columns, was designed by
Michael Angelo. Salvator Rosa and Carlo Maratta were both buried here.
The Government is forming a new museum in these buildings. On the
right of the high altar is Domenichino's S. Sebastian. _Opposite to
it_, Maratta's Baptism of our Lord. The Presentation in the Temple is
by Romanelli; the Death of Ananias by Roncalli. In the transept are
copies of Guido's Crucifixion of S. Peter, and Vanni's Fall of Simon
Magus; S. Peter resuscitating Tabitha, by Mancini; S. Jerome and S.
Francis, by Musciano; Assumption, by Bianchini; Resuscitation of
Tabitha, by Costanzi; Fall of Simon Magus, by Battoni; S. Basil
celebrating Mass before the Emperor Valens, by Subleyras.
_On leaving the church, opposite_ are the remains of the THEATRIDIUM
belonging to the baths, the space in front being the Stadium.