Diver swimming over a submerged mosaic.anbusiello TW/Alamy Stock Photo
allthatsinteresting.com has a story about the Roman city of Baiae. Located about 150 miles south of Rome, it was a resort town for wealth Romans. Much of it is under water now, but the ancient Roman relics preserved there give us clues to its hedonistic past.
The exact date of Baiae's construction is still a mystery. But by the 1st century B.C.E., the town had already become a popular destination for ancient Roman elites. Notable figures like Julius Caesar, Augustus, and Nero would all go on to own spectacular homes there.
Though many were attracted to the area's natural hot springs and balmy weather, Baiae also quickly gained a reputation as a place for bad behavior. In 56 B.C.E., a prominent socialite named Clodia was condemned during a court case for living as a "harlot" and seducer in the town.
Other ancient sources paint the resort as the ultimate "harbor of vice" where visitors would truly let themselves go wild.
