Among the public buildings essential to the Roman way of life are the baths. As a place of hygiene, sport and an essential part of political and social life, they are frequented alternately by men and women of all social categories.
The Jublains baths occupy a whole island to the south of the city. The name «baths» actually includes various elements. On the four sides of the island, a covered traffic gallery (the “portico”) gives access to shops, characterized by small square rooms. To the south of the island, a vast empty space probably corresponds to the palester, open-air courtyard reserved for sports training. The bath building itself occupies the center of the island. He proposes a linear and gradual path: after having undressed, we cross to the east the cold room without stopping there because the path begins with the warm room 1, only heated on its sides. We continue through the hot room (the oven), then we wash in very hot baths, located as close as possible to the fireplace. The course ends by returning to the cold bath of the first room. Several rooms and an atrium allow strolling or ancillary activities (reading, training, etc.).
The baths of Jublains, built towards the end of the 1st century AD, underwent transformations until the 3rd century. Thus, the cold bath has been redesigned, and several rooms on the north side have been subdivided, proving an assiduous attendance. During the 5th century, while new religious practices were emerging, the bath building, of elongated plan, was transformed into a church. It is this transformation that allowed the exceptional conservation of ancient masonry.