The Nero bath of Patara

Abstract

The Nero Baths of Patara are among the earliest Roman baths in Asia Minor. The building, located at the Agora, is currently being excavated. A total of three major construction phases have been identified: in a first period, around the middle of the 1st century BC, the bath consisted of two rectangular rooms. Most probably after the great earthquake of 141 AD, the bath was enlarged by adding a third room (the frigidarium). In a final phase of construction, extensive renovation work was carried out. This very well-preserved building contains valuable answers to the questions of the process in which the Roman bath and thus also a foreign cultural practice was taken over in Anatolia.