Identification In 1968, L. Cozza joined this fragment to frs. 8l, 8m, and 8o, and suggested that the building that is partially visible here represented a small bath complex, a balneum (Cozza 1968, p. 22, fig. 14). The straight line in this fragment seems to represent one of the outer walls of the complex. A decade later, E. Rodríguez-Almeida was able to position the entire group in the top left corner of slab VIII-5 because the thickness, smooth back, and thick, blue veining line in fr. 8l matched other, securely positioned fragments in that slab (frs. 8a, 8b, and 8c) (Rodríguez-Almeida 1970-71, p. 127-129). The join located the proposed bath complex in the valley between the Caelian and the Palatine Hill, and at equidistance between the Septizodium and the Flavian Amphitheater (the Colosseum). It is tempting to suggest that the proposed baths were fed by the Neronian branch of the Aqua Claudia that passed nearby, a section of which is visible in fr. 8i (see AG 1980, pl. 6); judging from its architecture, however, the small, irregular bath building probably predates the aqueduct.

Significance If the positioning of this fragment group is correct, it provides an interesting glimpse of the urban landscape between the Caelian and the Palatine, with a small bathing structure surrounded on all sides by imposing, imperial monuments such as the Septizodium, the Temple to the Deified Claudius, and the Colosseum.

Text by Tina Najbjerg