Roman Fresco fragment

Located in the Roman Baths so called "Neptuniae" in Terracina (Italy) belonging to the 1st-3rd cent. A.D. with linear paintings and a mosaic floor with sea-monsters. Near the bath you cans see just a stretch of the Trajan Via Appia; during the Middle Ages the Roman cisterns were converted into the church of Maddalena with a leper hospital adjoining to it. Just some unclear paintings can be seen in the religious building which was run, at first, by the Templars and, later on, by the Knights of S. Lazzaro. Then the area was used as an orchard and citrus grove by pope Pius VI who ordered to build a new house above the church. Bathing was one of the most common daily activities in Roman culture, and was practiced across a wide variety of social classes. Though many contemporary cultures see bathing as a very private activity conducted in the home, bathing in Rome was a communal activity.