For the Romans, taking a bath was not just a matter of keeping clean; it was one of their favorite leisure activities. The Baths of Caracalla, completed in AD 216 in honor of the Emperor Caracalla, had space for 1600 bathers at a time and were often filled to capacity. The complex covered 27 acres (11 ha) and, in addition to the baths and exercise areas, included concert halls, libraries, shops and gardens. These bath houses first became popular in the 2nd century BC. The public baths were built by entrepreneurs to make money, or endowed by wealthy philanthropists.

When the baths first opened, man and women bathed together, but in later centuries this scandalized some citizens. The Emperor Hadrian, who ruled from AD 117 to 138, was the first to issue edicts in a bid to enforce separate bathing.

The Baths of Caracalla are the best preserved thermal complex remaining and were constructed by the emperor whose name they bear from 212 to 216 AD. They occupy an area of about 22 acres; their immense cisterns received their water from a special branch of the Aqua Marcia aqueducts; the surrounding enclosure was erected under Heliogabalus and Alexander Severus. Until 357 AD, the date at which the baths ceased to function, the Romans came here to bathe in cold, tepid, and hot baths (frigidarium, tepidarium, caldarium, the last with its domed roof, it collapsed one day to the horror of bathers) and to enjoy a leisure complex of palestras (gymnasiums), libraries, and gardens. Excavation has brought to light numerous works of art.

The Baths of Agrippa are the oldest public baths in Rome. When the Aqua Virgo aqueduct began operation, the Baths of Agrippa burned in 80 AD in the reign of Titus and were restored with numerous changes from the reigns of Hadrian to Constantius (in 344). Although cut by the Via dell'Arco della Ciambella, some fine remains of the edifice have been preserved.

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