Baiae

Baiae is an ancient Roman town situated on the northwest shore of the Gulf of Naples and now in the comune of Bacoli [1]. It was a resort for centuries in antiquity, particularly towards the end of the Roman Republic, when it was reckoned as superior to Capri, Pompeii, and Herculaneum by wealthy Romans, who built villas here from 100 BC [1]. The lower part of the town later became submerged in the sea due to local volcanic, bradyseismic activity which raised or lowered the land [1]. Baiae was built on the Cumaean Peninsula in the Phlegraean Fields, an active volcanic area, on the side of an ancient crater sloping down to the shore [1]. The important archaeological remains were intensively excavated from 1941, revealing layers of buildings, villas and thermal complexes belonging to periods from the late Republican age, the Augustan, Hadrianic to the late Empire [1].