Intro: The Roman Baths contained a series of rooms and many baths, each with a
different function. After the changing in the changing rooms, a bather would start in the
gymnasia for exercise. Then move to the sauna. After that one would go to the
caldarium (the hot bath). Once the bather was done the hot bath they’d scrape their skin
clean and move on to the tepidarium (the warm bath). Lastly they’d stop at the
frigidarium (the cold bath).
Daily Bath: Health and decency was important to the Romans; they would wash their
exposed arms and legs every day and their bodies once a week. A spot in the home,
near the kitchen, was set aside for bathing.
Public Bath: Later the Romans created large public baths near hot mineral springs.
Many new features were borrowed from the Greek gymnasia, like exercise grounds,
courts for games, libraries, and gymnastic apparatus. These accessories soon became
more important than the bathing.
a consistent design was used throughout the Roman Empire
Rooms Required: The Romans had at least 3 rooms dedicated to bathing, even in
simple homes. Public baths were more elaborate…
• apodyterium - a room for changing
• tepidarium - warm room used to prevent entering a high temp too fast
• caldarium - room for the hot bath
• frigidarium - room for the cold bath
•room for rubbing and anointing with oil (return to apodyterium for clothes)
Heating the Baths: In earlier times the Romans placed stoves in rooms to heat them,
but later developed a furnace. The furnace was built into the floor of the building, and
the rooms were set up with the hottest rooms near the furnace and coolest rooms
farther away. There gaps designed under the floor to allow the rooms to be heated.
Facts and Description of the Caldarium: The hottest room, the caldarium had a very
specific design. The room contained a bath at one end in which the water was heated
by the furnace. The Caldarium had and overflow pipe to handle the hight of the water
with many people in the bath. It also had a drain at the bottom so the bath could be
cleaned. At the other end of the room was a vat of cool water.