Day Ten: Tour of Cuma

Today, we went to a variety of places in the bayside city of Cuma. We visited the house of Vedius Pollio, a wealthy equestrian. We trekked up to Virgil’s grave (or memorial). We visited an museum that housed statues of many Greek and Roman gods. We also visited the Cave of the Sibyl and the Baths of Baiae.

Baiae
Baiae is a city known for its wild and crazy summer visits from the rich and famous in Ancient Rome. Every July, those who had the means left their lives of work and social posturing to relax in Baiae, a city by the Bay of Naples. Of course, Baiae had a pretty racy reputation. Many Romans judged Baiae vacationers saying that they had loose morals and needed to be more respectable. Of course, some of the people judging also had homes in Baiae – hypocrites! In other words, Baiae of Ancient Rome could be compared to our modern day Las Vegas: a fun place for adults to go and relax. Some Italians still take advantage of the bayside during the sweltering July heat. Take a look at all of the sun worshipers we saw during our museum tour:

Remember, what happens in Baiae, stays in Baiae.

 

The Baths of Baiae

While staying in Baiae, rich Ancient Romans would also visit the luxurious baths. One of the social hot spots in ancient Rome were local baths. Most baths were separated by gender and hosted a great deal of people daily. There were three kinds of baths: caldarium, a very hot bath; tempidarium, a warm bath; and frigidarium, a cold bath. These bath houses also had ancient-type saunas and sunbathing areas. The ancient baths were similar to our modern day spas. They were meant for hygiene as well as relaxation.

Behind me is a local bath – note the arched structure of the roof and walls. The temperature

in the bath was extremely cool. Just standing in the domed room was a welcome relief in the triple-digit heat. I image ancient Romans would have used this facility as well as the many others on the property to cool down during the afternoon summer heat.

The Cave of the Sybil

The Sybil of Comae was a prophetess of Apollo. There are many sybyllas in Roman mythology/ history, but one was said to live in the Caves of Comae in a small Greek colony by the sea. The Cumaean Sibyl prophesied by “singing the fates” and writing on leaves. These leaves would be arranged inside the entrance of her cave, but if the wind blew and scattered them, she would not help to reassemble the leaves to form the original prophecy again. She was said to look like a scary old woman whose shriveled body looked beyond the grave. She also guided people to the Underworld.


Even in the time of Virgil, a Roman poet writing in the late first century A.D., the cave pictured above was known as a scary place. Once Virgil heard this story, he elaborated the story of Sybil and weaved her scary image into the minds of Aeneid readers. Can you imagine walking into this dark, echoy cave, wondering if the voices you hear are the great immortal prophetess Sybil who might give you a prophecy or even lead you into the Underworld? The ancient writers had great imaginations. . .

Tomorrow, we travel to the Museum of Naples. We will see archeological treasures, like mosaics and wall paintings, removed from Pompeii (see day nine) and Herculaneum.