La decorazione musiva e marmorea del frigidarium delle terme imperiali di Grumentum

The so-called “Terme Imperiali” of Grumentum, discovered between 1999 and 2003, represent one of the best preserved bathing complexes in the archaeological framework of Roman Italy, both in the structures and in the heating systems and decorations. A collaboration between the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio della Basilicata and the Università degli Studi della Basilicata has allowed the launch of a research project concerning, in particular, mosaic floors and marble decorations of the building, whose edification seems to date back to the last thirty years of the second century A.D. In this paper the attention is focused on the frigidarium decorative apparatus, which is well re-constructible and consists of an almost intact black and white mosaic floor with marine scenes in addiction to a covering in polychrome marble slabs, several fragments of which are preserved. A unitary reading is proposed of these different ornamentations, analysing their particular aspects and characteristics and highlighting their importance for the general overview of the building to which they belonged.