information:filtering, structural:expansion
Pre-modern

The " Great Bath " at the site of Mohenjo-Daro in modern-day Pakistan was most likely the first swimming pool, dug during the 3rd millennium BC. This pool is 12 by 7 metres (39 by 23 feet), is lined with bricks, and was covered with a tar-based sealant.

Ancient Greeks and Romans built artificial pools for athletic training in the palaestras, for nautical games and for military exercises. Roman emperors had private swimming pools in which fish were also kept, hence one of the Latin words for a pool was piscina. The first heated swimming pool was built by Gaius Maecenas in his gardens on the Esquiline Hill of Rome, likely sometime between 38 and 8 BC. Gaius Maecenas was a wealthy imperial advisor to Augustus and considered one of the first patrons of arts.

Ancient Sinhalese built a pair of pools called " Kuttam Pokuna " in the kingdom of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, in the 6th century AD. They were decorated with flights of steps, punkalas or pots of abundance, and scroll design.