ROMAN BATHS
Of all the leisure activities, bathing was surely the most
important for many Romans, since it was part of the
daily regimen for men of all classes, and many women
as well.
Apart from their normal hygienic functions, baths
provided facilities for sports and recreation.
Bathing had a fairly regular ritual, and bathhouses
were built to accommodate this.
It involved exercise first followed by a
APODYTERION (changing rooms)
In Pompeii
APODYTERION
Reconstruction
APODYTERION
Reconstruction from Gutenberg Museum
APODYTERION In Stabiae
The Palaestra
• This was the exercise area. It consisted of a large
central courtyard surrounded by a shady portico
which led into the bathing rooms. They might also take a
swim in the large outdoor pool (natatio)
• After exercise, bathers would have the dirt and
oil scraped from their bodies with a curved metal
implement called a strigil. Then the bathing
proper began
THE ROMANS FOLLOWED THE HOT TO COLD METHOD OF BATHING
• Accompanied by a slave carrying their towels, oil flasks and strigils,
bathers would progress at a leisurely pace through rooms of various
temperature. They might start in the warm room (tepidarium), which had
heated walls and floors but sometimes had no pool, and then proceed to
the hot bath (caldarium), which was closest to the furnace.
The Hypocaust
• Heating System: Roman engineers devised an ingenious system of
heating the baths—the hypocaust. The floor was raised off the
ground by pillars and spaces were left inside the walls so that hot air
from the furnace (praefurnium) could circulate through these open
areas. Rooms requiring the most heat were placed closest to the
furnace, whose heat could be increased by adding more wood.
The raised floor allowing for
under-floor heating
THE CALDARIUM
This room had a large tub or small pool with very hot water and a waisthigh fountain (labrum) with cool water to splash on the face and neck.
The labrum
The Caldarium showing the small pool
The Caldarium
The small pool
for bathing
Caldarium reconstruction
The Frigidarium
Bathers would finish in the cold room (frigidarium) with a
refreshing dip in the cold pool.
LATRINE