Early Bath

This week we have further additions to the Roman buildings collection in the Small Scale Scenery range.

First up we have a Roman baths complex, based on a reconstruction of the ones in Weißenburg in Germany, discovered in 1977. It has the distinctive vaulted roofs over the various hot, warm and cold baths, and a circular laconicum (sweat room – equivalent to a sauna).

Weißenburg Roman Baths

Next is the Mausoleum of Galerius, also known as the Rotunda of Galerius. This was built by the Emperor Galerius in AD306 in Thessaloniki, Greece. The 30m dome is comparable to, although much smaller than, Rome’s Pantheon and was possibly intended as his mausoleum. It has been through multiple uses over the years, as a Christian Basilica and church and Muslim mosque, from which use a minaret still survives. Nowadays it’s a designated historical monument, although the Orthodox church still uses it for certain events. Our model shows it as built, without the modifications of later years.

Mausoleum of Galerius

Previewed before Joy of Six, the next new item is the Porta Nigra, or ‘Black Gate’ from Trier in Germany (the name refers simply to the type of stone used, rather than anything more sinister). It was built in AD170 as the largest of the four gates in the city walls. In the Middle Ages it too was repurposed as a church, with significant additional building works including a spire – it also lost the top of one of the original towers in the process. This was reversed in 1804 when Napoleon ordered that it should be restored to its Roman form. Again, this model shows the gate in its original form.

Porta Nigra

Finally, we’ve created some new wall sections for the Modular Castle set. These have curved bastions with shallow roofs which match those of the Porta Nigra, so you can recreate a walled Roman city. You can see them in the image above with the gateway.

SSS-8203 – Porta Nigra – £2.50
SSS-8204 – Mausoleum of Galerius – £2.00
SSS-8205 – Roman Baths – £2.50
SSS-8120e – Walled with Roof Bastion (x2) – £1.50