The gymnasium (i.e. gym) in ancient Greece was an important institution, as exercising and keeping one's body fit were vital ...

The word gymnasium is derived from gumnazo, meaning exercise, and gumnos, meaning naked or loin-clothed. The gymnasia were the ancient Greek equivalent of a sports centre, and several were located ...

so the peristyle with the large pool in the center and the adjacent spa complex had the function of creating a Greek gymnasium setting, which was further accentuated by the athletic scenes added ...

These paintings, along with depictions of athletes in the peristyle, evoked the intellectual sophistication of a Greek gymnasium, a style hugely popular with Roman elite. The opulent bathhouse is ...