Note 32 — XII.

The extent, however, is variously computed. One writer, generally very exact, says: ‘According to Romani and Nibby’s plan of Rome,’ Caracalla’s baths ‘covered an area of 370 yards square, or 28 English acres.’ ‘Eustace makes the extent twice as great.’ Gibbon states that they were a mile in circumference, which would be 193,600 square yards, or 40 acres. Hare says they covered a space of 2,625,000 square yards, which is equal to 542 acres. It is not improbable that some measurements may refer merely to the ground covered by buildings, and that others comprehend ground not so covered. But even this explanation will not account for such extraordinary discrepancies.