Septimius Severus likely began the baths, and his son Caracalla completed them, probably between AD 212 and 216 or 217. They were inaugurated in AD 216. The Aqua Antoniniana, a branch of the Aqua Marcia, supplied them.
The complex is rectangular, 1,106 by 1,076 feet (337 by 328 m). The central block is 702 by 361 feet (214 by 110 m) and could hold an estimated 1,600 bathers. The frigidarium, or cold room, is 190 by 79 feet (58 by 24 m) under three groin vaults 108 feet (32.9 m) high. The caldarium is circular, 115 feet (35 m) in diameter.
In 537, during the Gothic War, King Vitiges of the Ostrogoths besieged Rome and cut off its water, and the baths were abandoned shortly afterward. The caldarium served as the summer home of the Rome Opera from 1937 to 1993. The baths are open for an admission fee, with visitors limited to certain walkways.
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