Impressive new discoveries include a private spa

After lying hidden under meters of volcanic rock and ash for 2,000 years, a once-in-a-century find has been discovered in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii in Italy.

Archaeologists have discovered a sumptuous private bathhouse – potentially the largest ever found there – complete with warm, hot and cold rooms, exquisite artwork and a huge pool.

The spa-like complex is at the heart of a grand residence that was uncovered over the past two years during major excavations.

“It’s these spaces that are really part of the ‘Pompeii effect’ – it’s as if people left just a minute ago,” said Dr Gabriel Zuchtrigel, director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, who revealed the new find exclusively to BBC News.

Analysis of two skeletons found in the house also shows the horror Pompeii’s residents faced when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. sl. Hr.

The bodies are of a woman aged between 35 and 50, who was clutching jewelery and coins, and a younger man in his late teens or early 20s.

They had barricaded themselves in a small room, but were killed when a tsunami of superheated volcanic gas and ash – known as a pyroclastic flow – tore through the city.

“This is a dramatic place and everything you find here tells you about the drama,” says Pompeii conservator Dr Ludovica Alesse.

A third of the ancient city still lies hidden under volcanic debris from the disaster, but the new excavations – the most extensive in a generation – are providing new insights into ancient Roman life.

The archaeologists are being followed by a documentary team from the BBC and Lion TV for a series called Pompeii: The New Excavation.

An entire block of Pompeii has now been uncovered, revealing a laundry and bakery, as well as the large private house. They are all believed to have been owned by one wealthy man, probably Aulus Rustius Verus, an influential politician from Pompeii.

The discovery of the bath is further confirmation of its elite status, says Dr. Zuchtrigel.

“There are only a few houses that have a private bathroom complex, so it was something really for the richest of the rich,” he says. “And it’s so huge – it’s probably the largest bathroom complex in a private home in Pompeii.”

Those lucky enough to use the bathroom suite would undress in a dressing room with vibrant red walls and a mosaic floor dotted with geometric patterns inlaid with marble from across the Roman Empire.

Then they would head to the hot room, soak in the tub, and enjoy the sauna-like heat provided by a suspended floor that allowed hot air to flow from below and cavity walls where the heat could circulate.

They would then move into the brightly painted warm room where the oil would be rubbed into the skin before being scraped off with a curved tool called a strigil.

Finally they would enter the largest and most spectacular room of all, the frigidarium or cold room. Surrounded by red columns and frescoes of athletes, visitors can cool off in the pool, which is so large that it can fit 20-30 people.

“During the hot summers, you could be sitting with your feet in the water, talking to your friends, maybe enjoying a glass of wine,” says Dr. Zuchtrigel.

The bathroom is the latest find to come out of this extraordinary house.

A huge banquet hall with black walls and breathtaking works of classical scenes was opened last year. A smaller, more intimate room – painted a pale blue – where the residents of the house went and prayed to the gods was also discovered.

The residence was in the middle of renovations – tools and building materials were found everywhere. In the blue room, a pile of oyster shells lie on the floor, ready to be ground up and applied to the walls to give them an iridescent sheen.

Adjacent to this beautiful space, in a narrow room with almost no decoration, a terrible discovery was made – the remains of two inhabitants of Pompeii who did not manage to escape the eruption.

The skeleton of a woman was found lying on a bed curled up in the fetal position. A man’s body was in the corner of this small room.

“The pyroclastic flow from Vesuvius came down the street right in front of this room and caused a wall to collapse and that had basically crushed him to death,” explains Dr Sophie Hay, an archaeologist at Pompeii.

“The woman was still alive while he was dying – imagine the trauma – and then that room filled with the rest of the pyroclastic flow and that’s how she died.”

Analysis of the male skeleton showed that despite his young age, his bones showed signs of wear and tear, suggesting he was of lower status, possibly even a slave.

The woman was older, but her bones and teeth were in good condition.

“She was probably someone higher up in society,” says Dr Hay. “She may have been the wife of the owner of the house – or maybe a helper looking after the wife, we just don’t know.”

An assortment of objects were found on a marble counter in the room – glassware, bronze jugs and ceramics – possibly brought into the room where the two had hid in the hope of waiting out the eruption.

But the objects clutched by the victims are of particular interest. The younger man was holding keys and the older woman was found with gold and silver coins and jewelry.

They are kept in Pompeii’s vault, along with the city’s other priceless finds, and we were given the chance to see them with archaeologist Dr. Alessandro Russo.

The gold coins still shine like new and he shows us delicate gold and natural pearl earrings, necklace pendants and intricately engraved semi-precious stones.

“When we find this kind of object, the distance between ancient times and modern times disappears,” says Dr. Russo, “and we can touch a small part of the lives of these people who died in the eruption.”

Dr Sophie Hay describes the complex of private baths as a once-in-a-century discovery that also sheds more light on the darker side of Roman life.

Just behind the warm room is a boiler room. A pipe brought water from the street—some of it siphoned off into the cold pool—and the rest was heated in a lead boiler intended for the hot room. The valves that regulate the flow look so modern that you can turn them on and off even today.

With a furnace located below, the conditions in this room would have been unbearably hot for the slaves who had to maintain the entire system.

“The most powerful thing about these excavations is this stark contrast between the lives of slaves and the very, very rich. And here we see it,” says Dr Sophie Hay.

“The difference between the luxurious life of the bath compared to the furnace where the slaves would feed the fire by toiling all day.

“A wall is all that can separate you between two different worlds.”

The excavation is in its final weeks, but new discoveries continue to emerge from the ashes. A limited number of visitors are allowed to visit the excavations while they are underway, but they will eventually be fully open to the public.

“Every day here is a surprise,” says Dr. Anna Onesti, director of the excavations.

“Sometimes I come to work in the morning thinking it’s a normal day at work – and then I find we’ve discovered something extraordinary.

“This is a magical moment in the life of Pompeii and these excavations offer us the opportunity to share that with the public.”