Il balaneion dell'agora di Solunto

Ettore Gabrici, who first excavated the structure located in the northwest corner of Solunto’s agora in 1920-21, identified the remains as part of a thermal bath, despite missing some of the key elements which usually characterize this type of buildings (hypocaust, praefurnium, heating pipes). After the re-examination of the architectural elements, this paper suggests a different interpretation which takes into account archaeological evidences from the broader Mediterranean context (especially from Sicily and the Punic world). The results here presented could actively contribute to a better understanding of the hydraulic engineering in Sicily during the Hellenistic Period. As a matter of fact, the structure probably dates back to the 3rd-2nd century bc and differs from the other Sicilian Hellenistic thermal baths for the lack of the water heating system, the laconicum and the bath-tubes. Despite these anomalies, the inner space organisation, the decorative program and the water supply/drainage system are clear indications of its function as balaneion. All together, these features form a new architectonical program which is the product of the well-known cultural syncretism, characterising the frontier city-settlements between the Greeks and the Punic territories. Hence, the balaneion must be read in connection with the gymnasium and the paideia as integral part of the educative program of the Greek ephébeia, already practiced in Solunto during the 1st century ad, as demonstrated by an inscription from the agora.