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Corbis

Rivaling the great bathhouses of Rome, the second-century C.E. Hadrianic bath of Leptus Magna was largely built of marble imported from Greece and Asia Minor. Bathers moved from the open air natatio, or swimming pool (see photo of natatio), through colonnaded passageways into the frigidarium, or cold-water room (shown here), which was decorated with statuary-filled niches and wall paintings. A dip in the warm-water room, or tepidarium, was next, followed by a hot soak in the caldarium or by a little sweating in one of two steam rooms, or laconia.