Archaeologists excavating a Late Roman imperial complex in eastern Serbia have uncovered an exceptionally preserved private bath built inside the corner tower of a fortified palace.
The discovery was made at the Vrelo–Šarkamen archaeological site, where researchers have been investigating a monumental early fourth-century residential complex associated with the Roman emperor Maximinus Daia.
The newly identified balneum, or private bath complex, occupies the lowest level of the palace’s massive south-western corner tower. Built to fit within the tower, the bath has a circular plan and was covered by a dome pierced by six window openings — an ambitious design requiring considerable architectural and engineering expertise.
The find comes exactly three decades after Šarkamen attracted international archaeological attention with the discovery of an imperial mausoleum containing an extraordinary collection of gold jewellery.
The latest excavations suggest the imperial residence was even more sophisticated and luxurious than previously thought.
Remarkable Bathing Complex Hidden Inside Tower
Archaeologists have so far identified three bathing pools or tubs, a sudatorium, or steam-bath room, and the technical infrastructure required to heat the complex.
Among the most significant finds is a completely preserved hypocaust — the Roman system that circulated hot air beneath raised floors to heat rooms.
The Šarkamen hypocaust retains its circular pilae, the small supporting columns upon which the heated floors rested. Its exceptional state of preservation gives researchers an unusually detailed picture of how the private imperial bath operated.
The technical section also contains the praefurnium, the furnace at the heart of the heating system.
Researchers additionally identified the emplacement that once supported a copper boiler used to heat water for the bath. The boiler itself has disappeared, most likely because valuable copper was removed and reused after the complex ceased to function.
Surviving Roman copper boilers are extremely rare, with a preserved example known from Pompeii. Although the Šarkamen vessel is missing, its surviving emplacement allows archaeologists to reconstruct where it stood and how it interacted with the bath’s heating system.
The arrangement provides an unusually complete picture of Roman bathing technology, combining the furnace, boiler installation, hypocaust, bathing pools and steam room within a single architectural space.
Service Workers Entered Separately
The design also appears to have carefully separated palace residents from the workers responsible for operating the baths.
Personnel tending the praefurnium and maintaining the heating system entered the tower’s technical section from the west through a monumental entrance. The service area was therefore physically separated from the rooms used for bathing, relaxation and leisure.
The arrangement indicates that the balneum was far more than a utilitarian washing facility. It was a carefully planned private bathing suite for high-status occupants of the imperial residence, combining sophisticated engineering with comfort and architectural display.
Its position inside a monumental corner tower makes the discovery particularly unusual. According to the research team, no direct parallel for such an arrangement is currently known elsewhere in the Roman Empire.
New Questions About an Imperial Palace
Despite the bath’s remarkable preservation, its discovery has also created new archaeological questions.
One of the most important concerns how the imperial residents actually entered it.
An entrance on the eastern side connects with a paved corridor belonging to the palace, but researchers have yet to determine how the substantial difference between the floor levels was negotiated and exactly how access to the bathing rooms was organised.
Questions also remain over the monumental western approach to the tower and its relationship with the technical section, while the precise functions of some excavated spaces have yet to be established.
Further investigation could therefore reveal additional details about the relationship between the tower, bath and wider imperial residence.
Major Late Antique Site
Vrelo–Šarkamen is regarded as one of Serbia’s most important Late Antique archaeological sites.
The monumental fortified residential complex was constructed during the early fourth century and has been associated with Maximinus Daia, who ruled during the Tetrarchic era, when the Roman Empire was governed through a system involving multiple emperors.
The site became particularly important following the discovery of its imperial mausoleum and a unique assemblage of gold jewellery 30 years ago.
The latest archaeological campaign is being conducted by the Institute of Archaeology with support from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia and in cooperation with the Museum of Krajina.
Excavations are directed by Dr Marija Jović, Research Associate at the Institute of Archaeology, and Gordan Janjić, MA, Museum Advisor at the Museum of Krajina.
The interdisciplinary research team also includes Dr Igor Bjelić, Senior Research Associate and architect; Dr Ljubomir Jevtović, Research Associate; surveyor Borisav Marković; and architecture student Konstantin Janjić.
Their work is allowing researchers to reconstruct not only individual structures but the wider architectural organisation and technological sophistication of the imperial residence.
Thirty years after Šarkamen yielded its extraordinary imperial gold jewellery, the site has produced another unexpected discovery.
This time, it is an imperial bath concealed within a palace tower — an exceptionally preserved testament to the architectural ambition, engineering expertise and luxurious lifestyle of Rome’s imperial elite.
Sources : Institute of National Importance for the Republic of Serbia
