The Sanctity of Caves: An Etruscan Artificial Cave Bath

Jared T. Benton (University of Arizona)

A most peculiar bath of the 2^nd century BCE is located at Chianciano Terme.  It does not conform to the typical Roman spa format, yields little material culture, and has no parallel in the immediate region. The bath complex consists of a spring supplying a single coldwater pool with a shrine at its center.

During the 2004 excavation season, the entrance of the bath was discovered.  Based on the stone masonry forming the base of the entrance and other stones in the vicinity, excavators concluded that the entrance was a megalithic structure.  Furthermore, the semi-hewn treatment of the stones indicates that its builders may have intended a cave-like effect.  This pseudo-cave entrance, although initially perplexing, may provide a possible explanation for the uniqueness of the bath complex in general.  It may be a remnant of a persistent Etruscan culture particular to the region near Chiusi.  Scholars, like Sybille Haynes, have previously noted that areas in and around Chiusi preserved ties to their Etruscan past longer, while other regions were becoming Romanized.  The bath complex in Chianciano Terme represents a local continuation of an old Etruscan religious practice of sanctifying caves and springs that had long been abandoned in other parts of Etruria.

Outside Etruria, the only parallels for Chianciano’s pseudo-cave bath exist in the Greek world.  Fikret Yegul has documented how the Greek bath developed from sacred springs housed in caves.  Later, when bathing emerged as a hygienic practice in the 6^th and 5^th centuries, the artificial baths retained their cave form in places such as Cyrene and Piraeus.  Greeks brought the concept of the cave-bath with them to Italy.  Yet, the only example of this in Magna-Graeca is too far from Chianciano, both spatially and temporally, to be identified as a possible influence.

The tradition that led to Chianciano’s pseudo-cave bath can be likened to the development of the Greek bath.  During early Etruscan and Villanovan history, caves and springs were centers of worship, much like in early Greek culture.  Later, as Roman influence spread and large temples were being built in city centers, the old springs and caves lost their religious significance.  The spring in Chianciano continued to serve as a religious center.  As construction techniques improved, the man-made additions to the spring became more complex.  Eventually, the ancient users of Chianciano Terme decided to house the spring in a bath complex.  Based on their other ancient shrines, they chose an appropriate house for their sacred spring, a cave.