Baths of Agrippa The Baths of Agrippa (Thermae Agrippae) were a
structure of ancient Rome, built by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa,
the first of the great thermae constructed in the city. In their
first form, constructed at the same time as the Pantheon and on
axis with it, as a balaneion (βαλανεῖον), they were apparently a
hot-air bath with a cold plunge, not unlike a sauna. With the
completion of the Aqua Virgo, the aqueduct completed by Agrippa
in 19 BC, the baths were supplied with water and became regular
thermae, with a large ornamental pool (Stagnum Agrippae)
attached. Agrippa furnished his baths with decorations that may
have been executed in glazed tiles and with works of art: the
Apoxyomenos of Lysippus stood outside. He left the baths to the
citizens of Rome at his death, 12 BC. The Baths of Agrippa were
damaged by fire in AD 80 (Cassius Dio, lxvi.24), but were
restored and enlarged; they were thronged in the times of
Martial, and enlarged under Hadrian and later emperors. Sidonius
Apollonaris mentions t