Roman Heating : Hypocaust

Personal study. Cutaway section of a Roman hypocaust, the underfloor heating system used in baths and wealthy houses.

The section is deliberately stylized rather than site-specific: it is a teaching image, built to make a single mechanism legible in one view. Warm air from an adjoining furnace circulates in the void below the suspensura, a level of waterproof hydraulic mortar carried on stacks of terracotta tiles, then rises through wall flues called tubuli. The geometry follows the standard proportions documented across excavated bath complexes rather than one particular example.

Explanatory and educational visuals for museums and heritage sites: archeonumerique.fr