Block-type military balneum in Timacum Minus its spatial arrangement, social impacts, and architectural analogies

Abstract

The remains of a Roman bath are situated northeast of the remains of the Timacum Minus castrum. The discovered building is small in size, with a total area of about 242 m?. According to the specific layout of rooms, with a reduced spatial organization of its plan, the building belongs to the reduced block-type of military small baths - balneae. In the territory of Serbia, no military balneae of this type have been discovered so far, which are otherwise common for border areas throughout the Roman Empire. The specific spatial relationship between the individual rooms and the characteristic building forms registered in the building plan indicate that the origin of the architecture of the military balneum in Timacum Minus should be associated with the Roman architecture of the balneae that belong to the villae rusticae in Central Europe.