BALE, an ancient town of Campania, in Italy, situated between the promontory of Misenum and Puteoli, on the Sinus Baianus, and famous for its warm springs and baths, which served the wealthier Romans for the purposes both of health and pleasure. The variety of these baths, the softness of the climate, and the beauty of the landscape, captivated the minds of the opulent nobles, whose passion for bathing knew no bounds. Hither retired for temporary relaxation the mighty rulers of the world, to recruit their strength and revive their spirits, fatigued with bloody campaigns and civil contests. Their habitations at first were small and modest; but increasing luxury soon added palace to palace with such expedition, that ground could no longer be found for new erections; while enterprising architects, supported by boundless wealth, carried their foundations into the sea, and drove that element back from its ancient limits. From being a place of occasional resort for a season, Baise grew up into a regular city, and the confluence of wealthy inhabitants rendered it as much a miracle of art as it had before been of nature. Its great splendour is still attested by innumerable ruins, heaps of marbles, mosaics, stucco, and other precious relics of the past. It flourished in undiminished magnificence till the days of Theodoric the Goth; but the destruction of these enchanted palaces followed quickly upon the irruption of the northern conquerors, who overturned the Roman power, sacked and burned all before them, and destroyed or dispersed the whole race of nobility. When the guardian hand of man was withdrawn, the sea rushed back upon its old domain; moles and buttresses were torn asunder and washed away; and promontories, with the proud towers that once crowned their brows, were undermined and tumbled into the deep. Yet, in its ruined state, and stripped of all its ornaments, Baise still presents many striking objects for the admiration of the traveller and the pencil of the artist. Long. 14. 3. E. Lat. 40. 50. N.