What were the Rome baths?

Answer 1

Since most Roman houses had no baths, their baths were public and had a communal character, acting as a place for socialising. From the second century BC they were one of the main meeting points for people. They could be big monumental buildings which complexes with many facilities. Friends met there, rich people met their clients, and group meals could be arranged. Politicians canvassed there. The Romans believed that good health came from eating, bathing, massage and exercise. Therefore their baths provided for all of these. Bigger baths could have shops, eating outlets and areas, washing areas, massage areas, rooms for poetry readings and a library (the baths of Caracalla had two libraries, a Latin one and a Greek one). The average length of stay at the baths was two hours.

There was often an outdoor palestra (gymnasium) for ball games, weight lifting, or throwing the discus. Washing was separate from bathing. People put on perfumed oils and scraped dead skin off their bodies with a stirgil, a small metal tool. Pumice and beech ash were used to treat the skin. Afterwards bathers went to massage rooms which were done with perfumed oils and special ointments such almond oil and myrrh imported from the East and Egypt.

The vestibule of the baths was an atrium (courtyard) surrounded by a covered portico. It gave access to the toilets, the bathing area and the other areas of the baths, such as the gym, the massage areas, and other amenities.

Bathing was a long process. After undressing in the apodytermium bathers went to the tepidarium which was heated with warm air to prepare for the hot vapour of the baths and for anointing, which was usually done by slaves, and to reacclimatise the body before going outdoors. They then proceeded into the caldarium, a hot air room, which contained a square-shaped pool with hot water (calida piscina) and a labrum, a round basin with cold water bathers poured on their heads before leaving the room. In imperial times a laconicum or sudatorium was added. This was a very hot, sweating room or sauna After having opened the pores of the skin in the tepidarium, caldarium and laconicum, bathers went into the frigidarium, which had a pool with cold water, for a cold plunge- bath to close the pores. Finally they went back to the tepidarium to readjust to the outdoors temperature. As bathing was done in the nude, women had a separate area where they followed the same procedure.

Below the caldarium and the laconium there were the furnaces (preafurmium or propigneum) and boilers (milarius) with tepid water for the tepidarium and hot water for the hot rooms. The steam reached the bath through pipes in the wall. The hollow walls and the hypocaust, an empty space below the floor, carried the heat around the room. The water used for the baths was recycled to flush the outdoors public toilets in the city.

Answer 2

Since most Roman houses had no baths, their baths were public and had a communal character, acting as a place for socialising. From the second century BC they were one of the main meeting points for people. They could be big monumental buildings which complexes with many facilities. Friends met there, rich people met their clients, and group meals could be arranged. Politicians canvassed there. The Romans believed that good health came from eating, bathing, massage and exercise. Therefore their baths provided for all of these. Bigger baths could have shops, eating outlets and areas, washing areas, massage areas, rooms for poetry readings and a library (the baths of Caracalla had two libraries, a Latin one and a Greek one). The average length of stay at the baths was two hours.

There was often an outdoor palestra (gymnasium) for ball games, weight lifting, or throwing the discus. Washing was separate from bathing. People put on perfumed oils and scraped dead skin off their bodies with a stirgil, a small metal tool. Pumice and beech ash were used to treat the skin. Afterwards bathers went to massage rooms which were done with perfumed oils and special ointments such almond oil and myrrh imported from the East and Egypt.

The vestibule of the baths was an atrium (courtyard) surrounded by a covered portico. It gave access to the toilets, the bathing area and the other areas of the baths, such as the gym, the massage areas, and other amenities.

Bathing was a long process. After undressing in the apodytermium bathers went to the tepidarium which was heated with warm air to prepare for the hot vapour of the baths and for anointing, which was usually done by slaves, and to reacclimatise the body before going outdoors. They then proceeded into the caldarium, a hot air room, which contained a square-shaped pool with hot water (calida piscina) and a labrum, a round basin with cold water bathers poured on their heads before leaving the room. In imperial times a laconicum or sudatorium was added. This was a very hot, sweating room or sauna After having opened the pores of the skin in the tepidarium, caldarium and laconicum, bathers went into the frigidarium, which had a pool with cold water, for a cold plunge- bath to close the pores. Finally they went back to the tepidarium to readjust to the outdoors temperature. As bathing was done in the nude, women had a separate area where they followed the same procedure.

Below the caldarium and the laconium there were the furnaces (preafurmium or propigneum) and boilers (milarius) with tepid water for the tepidarium and hot water for the hot rooms. The steam reached the bath through pipes in the wall. The hollow walls and the hypocaust, an empty space below the floor, carried the heat around the room. The water used for the baths was recycled to flush the outdoors public toilets in the city.