On the east side of the court are the men's baths, rooms I-VIII; north of these are the women's baths, rooms 1-6, with the furnace room, IX, between them. In the northwest corner of the building were small rooms (_e-e_) intended for private baths. They had not been provided with the improved heating arrangements, and were not in use at the time of the catastrophe. The larger room adjoining (_k_) was a closet.
The anteroom of the men's baths (IV), opens at one end into the dressing room or apodyterium (VI), as seen in Plate V. It has a vaulted ceiling, richly decorated. A door at the left leads into the frigidarium (V), and another at the right into a servants' waiting room (I), which is accessible from the court. This room was formerly entered also from the street, through a passage (III), which was later closed; on one side of it is a bench of masonry for the slaves in attendance upon their masters. Similar benches are found in the waiting room at the other end of the apodyterium (X).
[Illustration: Fig. 86.--Plan of the Stabian Baths.
A. Main Entrance. B. Colonnade. C. Palaestra. F. Swimming tank. I-VIII. Men's Baths. IV. Anteroom. V. Frigidarium. VI. Apodyterium. VII. Tepidarium. VIII. Caldarium. IX. Furnace room. 1-6. Women's baths. 1, 5. Entrances. 2. Apodyterium. 3. Tepidarium. 4. Caldarium.]
The apodyterium also was provided with benches of the same sort, as indicated on the plan; they are shown in Plate V. Along the walls at the sides, just under the edge of the vaulted ceiling, was a row of small niches, the use of which corresponded with that of the lockers in a modern gymnasium. These niches are about 5-3/4 feet above the floor, while those in the other dressing room (2) are a little less than five feet; from this difference in height it has been rightly inferred that the smaller and simpler division of the baths was set aside for women. The floor is paved with rectangular flags of gray marble, with blocks of basalt next to the walls. While the walls were left simply white, with a red base, the ceiling was elaborately decorated with stucco reliefs in the style prevalent shortly before the destruction of the city; there are vestiges of similar decoration in the tepidarium. In octagonal, hexagonal, and quadrangular panels are rosettes, Cupids, trophies, and bacchic figures. The lunettes are adorned with fantastic architectural designs, in which we see bacchic figures standing on pedestals, and Cupids riding on dolphins; the sides of the two arches supporting the ceiling (one of them is seen in Plate V) are decorated with female figures mounted on dolphins, which run out into arabesques. The frequent suggestion of water in these motives is in harmony with the purpose of the room.
