Long before Las Vegas, Saint-Tropez or the French Riviera became playgrounds for the rich and famous, ancient Rome had Baiae.
Perched along the beautiful Bay of Naples, Baiae was where Rome’s wealthiest citizens went when they wanted to escape the rules, expectations and watchful eyes of the capital. Emperors built extravagant villas there. Senators soaked in elaborate thermal baths. The aristocracy arrived for parties, romance, political intrigue and pleasures that Roman writers often described with barely concealed disapproval.
If Rome was where reputations were made, Baiae was where they could be spectacularly ruined.
Today, the story has an extraordinary twist: a significant portion of ancient Baiae lies underwater, turning Rome’s notorious resort town into one of the most fascinating archaeological sites in Italy.
The Ancient Roman Playground of the Rich
Baiae was located on the northwest side of the Bay of Naples near the modern town of Bacoli. Its location placed it within the Phlegraean Fields, a volcanically active region filled with natural hot springs.
The Romans quickly recognized the possibilities.
Rather than simply bathing in naturally heated water, wealthy residents constructed increasingly elaborate bath complexes, pools, terraces and villas around the springs. Over time, Baiae developed into an exclusive resort where some of the most powerful people in the Roman world owned or occupied luxurious estates.
Among the famous figures associated with Baiae were Julius Caesar, Nero, Caligula, Hadrian and other members of Rome’s political elite.
The attraction was easy to understand. Baiae offered warm mineral waters, spectacular coastal views, elaborate villas, fine food and a social atmosphere far removed from the formal responsibilities of Rome.
But relaxation was only the beginning.
What Happened in Baiae Stayed in Baiae
Baiae developed a reputation for indulgence that became legendary.
Roman moralists complained about excessive drinking, extravagant feasts, sexual affairs and all-night celebrations. The philosopher Seneca was particularly unimpressed by the place, regarding Baiae as somewhere a serious-minded Roman should probably avoid.
The poet Propertius similarly associated the resort with romantic temptation.
Part of Baiae’s scandalous reputation undoubtedly came from Roman moralizing. Wealthy Romans loved luxury while simultaneously producing an impressive amount of literature complaining that everyone else was enjoying too much of it.
Still, Baiae clearly had a reputation.
It became the sort of place where the normal restraints of respectable Roman society loosened considerably once people reached the coast.
Think senators in vacation mode.
Nothing could possibly go wrong.
Emperors Behaving Badly
Naturally, Roman emperors eventually took the idea of a luxury resort and turned the dial considerably higher.
One of the most colorful stories involves Caligula.
According to the ancient historian Suetonius, Caligula ordered ships to be positioned side by side across the Bay of Baiae, creating an enormous temporary floating bridge stretching between Baiae and Puteoli. The emperor supposedly rode across it dramatically on horseback.
Why?
One ancient explanation claims that an astrologer had once said Caligula had no more chance of becoming emperor than he did of riding a horse across the Bay of Baiae.
Caligula apparently took that personally.
Baiae was also associated with Emperor Nero, whose mother, Agrippina the Younger, was murdered nearby in AD 59 after an elaborate assassination plot involving a sabotaged boat failed to kill her.
Even by Roman imperial standards, family vacations around Baiae could become complicated.
The Luxury Was Extraordinary
Baiae was not merely scandalous. It was architecturally spectacular.
The wealthy constructed enormous villas cascading down the hills toward the sea. Buildings contained mosaics, marble floors, fountains, gardens, pools and private bathing facilities.
Public and private bath complexes took advantage of the volcanic activity beneath the region. Roman engineers channeled naturally heated water and steam into sophisticated bathing environments.
Several enormous domed structures survive at the archaeological site. Some were historically given names such as the Temple of Mercury, Temple of Venus and Temple of Diana, although they were actually associated with Roman bath complexes rather than functioning simply as traditional temples.
The so-called Temple of Mercury is particularly impressive. Its enormous concrete dome demonstrates the remarkable engineering abilities Roman architects possessed centuries before many later monumental domes were constructed.
Baiae was essentially a showcase for what unlimited Roman money could buy.
Then the Ground Began to Sink
Baiae's eventual transformation had less to do with morality than geology.
The volcanic landscape surrounding the Phlegraean Fields experiences a phenomenon known as bradyseism, in which the ground slowly rises or falls because of geological activity beneath the surface.
Over centuries, portions of Baiae gradually descended.
Buildings that once stood comfortably along the shoreline were overtaken by the Mediterranean.
Streets disappeared.
Floors vanished beneath the waves.
Entire sections of luxurious villas became part of the seabed.
What had once been some of the most expensive waterfront property in the Roman world literally became underwater property.
The Sunken City of Baiae
Today, submerged portions of ancient Baiae are protected within an underwater archaeological park.
Divers can explore Roman ruins beneath the clear waters of the Bay of Naples, swimming above ancient mosaics, columns, walls, roads and remnants of villas.
The experience can be wonderfully surreal.
Fish glide over floors where wealthy Romans once walked. Marine plants grow around walls that once enclosed luxurious rooms. Mosaics created nearly two thousand years ago remain visible beneath the Mediterranean.
Archaeologists continue to uncover remarkable evidence of Baiae's former grandeur. In recent years, underwater investigations have revealed elaborate marble flooring and decorative features belonging to luxurious Roman residences.
The underwater ruins have transformed Baiae from a legendary Roman pleasure resort into something perhaps even more extraordinary: an archaeological landscape preserved beneath the sea.
Baiae Was More Than Ancient Rome’s Party Town
It is tempting to remember Baiae simply as the Las Vegas of ancient Rome.
There certainly appears to have been enough drinking, gossip, romance, conspicuous consumption and questionable decision-making to earn the comparison.
But Baiae also reveals something important about Roman civilization.
This was a society capable of astonishing engineering and architectural sophistication. Wealthy Romans manipulated volcanic heat, constructed enormous concrete domes, created elaborate water systems and decorated their homes with marble and mosaics imported from across the empire.
Baiae was simultaneously a spa town, political retreat, luxury resort and architectural laboratory.
It was also a place where Rome’s carefully cultivated public respectability collided with private appetite.
A Roman Pleasure Palace Frozen Beneath the Waves
Perhaps that is what makes Baiae so fascinating today.
Pompeii was preserved largely through catastrophe. Baiae disappeared differently.
The earth slowly shifted beneath it.
The shoreline changed.
The sea advanced.
And portions of one of ancient Rome's most notorious destinations slipped quietly underwater.
Nearly two thousand years later, divers can float above the remains of villas where emperors and aristocrats once gathered to escape Rome and indulge themselves beside the Mediterranean.
The parties are long over.
The gossip has gone silent.
But beneath the blue waters of the Bay of Naples, Rome’s most scandalous resort is still there.
