Chapter 7
Bathing is a public matter!
Focus
At the end of this presentation you will be
able to name the rooms in a bath house, the
order in which they were typically used and
the general bathing customs of the Romans.
Public Baths?
The Romans would go there to
exercise, socialize, relax and
groom, including a bath.
Before you get too upset at the
idea of taking a bath in public, let
me explain a little about the
concept of a Bath House.
 Remember
that the Romans had
no newspaper, radio or TV so the
baths were a great place to get the
news for the day and maybe even
an invite to dinner.
 There
were generally separate
rooms or different hours for women
to keep the sexes separated during
bathing.
Balnea or Thermae
Banea: smaller private baths, operated for profit
Thermae: larger public baths used by most Romans, even the rich
The super wealthy had their own private baths in their homes
The entrance was cheap...one quadrans, the smallest Roman coin.
Sometimes a candidate or politician would pay the admission for the town for
the day. Or, when the bath house first opened it might waive the admission for
the first few days.
Operations
about midday until sunset
and most contained shops,
food The aedile was in
charge of regulating the
baths for cleanliness and
temperature.
The baths were opened
from vendors and some
even and libraries.
The Romans saw the bath
complex as a place to
achieve a sound body and
mind.
Roman didn’t invent baths,
They just made it better!
The Romans adapted the
concept of the bath complex
from the Greeks, but with one
major improvement. Central
Heating. That’s right you can
thank the Romans for a warm
house! The Romans invented the
hypocaust system where the
bath ‘tubs’ or pools and the
rooms were heated with warm
air. The floors were raised on
piles of bricks and air heated
from burning wood was forced
into the resulting chambers by
slaves. Thus the floor was
warmed and then everything
else.
In general..
The bath house would have several rooms depending on it’s size, but some
rooms were common to most all baths. There was also a typical sequence of
visiting the various parts of the bath house, though you could go in whatever
order you preferred. Now that you have paid “admission”, lets go inside for a
more in depth look!
Palestra
Palestra: The exercise yard, not always there but usually.
You might throw the discus or javelin or maybe you would
wrestle or box.
Apodyeterium
Apodyeterium: the changing or locker room; it had ‘cubbies’ cut
out in the wall to store your belongings.
You
would need your own your slave or tip the attendant to
watch your clothes, keeping them safe from the thieves.
Tepidarium
Tepidarium: A warm room
with warmed water.
Here
you would
acclimate yourself to the
heat.
Caldarium
Caldarium: A hot room with hot water
Here the wate rwas hot enough for you to sweat
the dirt out of your pores.
In this room you might have a slave rub you with
oil, then scrape it and the dirt off with a strigil. A
strigil was made out of metal and was curved on
one end to facilitate the scraping.
Your next move might be to have a massage on a
marble slab or have your hair plucked by one of
the vendors specializing in depilation.
Frigidarium
Frigidarium: A cold room where you might
be able to plunge into a pool with unheated
water
Here
you might take a
plunge in the cold
water to close your
pores again.
You
might then take a relaxing stroll in the
gardens, hear some music or poetry or you
might engage in philosophy.
Seneca Says...
The Roman writer Seneca apparently lived
near a bath complex and complained
about how noisy it was. He could hear the
grunts of the people exercising. He could
also hear the slaps of the masseur, both
with an opened and closed fist.
Additionally he heard the splashes made
from people ‘jumping in’ or the ruckus of a
fighter or thief being arrested. He could
hear the screams of the guy who
advertised his services for hair removal
and who was only quiet when he had a
customer screaming instead. He could also
hear the cries of the various food vendors
selling cakes, sausages and other foods.
Assignment
I say that a Roman bath complex is more
like a modern gym or health club. What
do you think? In your original post,
identify the various parts of the bath
complex that would prove (or disprove)
your position. Your response post
should include your own experiences (or
that of someone you know) that would
help support the post by your classmate.
Please remember to use proper English,
including spelling, grammar and
punctuation. You must both post and
respond to a classmate for full credit.