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the sixth century A.D. when the aqueducts that supplied them were destroyed. 271 The main
structural elements of the baths have survived, along with portions of mosaic pavements,
countless fragments of marble veneer, and underground service corridors.
What connects these thermae to the Punta Scifo A shipwreck is the presence of
Docimian marble in the baths, used for some of the column shafts and as veneer. 272 The
preserved column shafts, however, are longer than those found in the Punta Scifo A
154
shipwreck: they measure 36, 30, and 24 Roman feet (10.65, 8.88, and 7.10 m respectively),
while similar elements from the Punta Scifo A shipwreck are never taller than 20 Roman
feet (5.92 m).
Another conspicuous parallel is a block of white Docimian marble found in the
Baths of Caracalla which bears a consular date of A.D. 206 and is the only item known
-outside of the Docimian quarries- to carry the three letters “COM”, which appear on the
blocks and column shafts from Punta Scifo A. 273 Additionally, the numerous marble basins
from the wreck (LAB 1-7) may well have been designed for use in a thermal complex. 274
The lead seals Orsi saw on the blocks and column shafts are now lost, but recessed notches
for them are still visible on some of the marble artifacts in Capo Colonna and Corazzo
(COL 1, BLC 8). These seals are known to designate quarried items belonging to the
emperors, 275 and may suggest a further connection with an imperially-sponsored building
project.
271 Nash 1962, 434-41.
272 DeLaine 1997, 32, 70.
273 DeLaine 1997, 96, n. 57. See Chapter III, p. 101 n. 135 for a full transcription of the epigraph.
274 As seen in Chapter III, p, 109, the Byzantine historian Olympiodorus saw in the thermae of Diocletian
3,200 small marble basins, and many more were present in Caracalla’s public baths.
275 Spagnoli 2002, 496.