A Roman bath at the ancient Greek city of Antiochia ad Cragum (Greek: Αντιόχεια του Κράγου) in modern-day Turkey was later transformed into a winery, new research suggests. Archaeologists found evidence of Roman agricultural production inside the former bathing complex, including spaces likely used to crush grapes and collect juice. Other equipment shows that workers probably processed olives there as well.
The study, led by Emlyn Dodd, examined the Small Bath in Rough Cilicia, about 90 meters, or 295 feet, outside the ancient city’s main gate. Antiochia ad Cragum has produced other major archaeological finds, including a life-sized marble head of the ancient Greek goddess Aphrodite.
Originally built around the late second or early third century A.D., the Small Bath had mosaic floors, marble decoration, and rooms for hot and cold bathing. Researchers believe its original use ended before parts of the building were converted for agricultural production during the Late Roman period.
Bathing rooms became part of a winery
Two former cold rooms provide some of the clearest evidence for wine production. One contained a heavily worn mosaic floor connected by a waterproof channel to the neighboring room. The channel divided there and carried liquid toward two collection areas, including a former bathing pool converted into a large vat. The vat could hold about 2,900 liters, or 766 gallons. Its capacity was more than twice that of a collection vat at another winery previously discovered at Antiochia.
Researchers believe workers may have trodden or crushed grapes on the mosaic floor before directing the juice through the channel and into the vats. The worn floor could also point to the processing of dried grapes used to produce “passum,” a raisin wine associated with Rough Cilicia.
Bath may also have produced olive oil
Evidence from the former central hall suggests the facility was not necessarily devoted to wine alone. Archaeologists discovered a stone “trapetum,” a rotary mill commonly associated with crushing olives. They also found a marble press bed and a counterweight belonging to a lever-and-screw press.
Workers recycled older architectural blocks to make parts of the equipment. They even cut through the bath’s original mosaic floor to place the counterweight at a lower level and increase the force of the press. Researchers caution that ancient presses could process either grapes or olives. The trapetum, however, provides stronger evidence that olives were also handled at the site.
Similar evidence of ancient olive oil production has been found at nearby Syedra, where archaeologists uncovered an olive oil workshop. If the Small Bath produced both commodities, its combined winery and oil-processing operation would be unusual for Rough Cilicia, where published evidence generally points to wine and olive oil being processed in separate facilities. Archaeologists had previously uncovered a combined wine and olive oil workshop at the ancient Greek city of Bathonea.
Old Roman bath given a new purpose
The bath itself offered useful infrastructure. Much of the building apparently remained standing and roofed, providing shade and more stable temperatures. A nearby cistern supplied water that could be used during production and for cleaning.
The Small Bath is the largest agricultural production installation yet identified at Antiochia. The agricultural facilities had gone out of use by the sixth or seventh century A.D., although researchers say they may have been abandoned earlier.
The discovery adds to growing evidence of wineries, olive-processing equipment and amphora kilns across Antiochia. Together, the finds suggest wine and olive oil played an important role in the city’s Late Roman economy and may have been produced beyond the needs of the local population.
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