One of the later Roman emperors was asked by an incredulous barbarian chieftain why he bathed once a day. The emperor answered in apologetic innocence that it was because he was too busy to bathe twice. Bathing was extremely important in Roman society.
The Origins of Roman Bathing
Two traditions came together to create the Roman style of bathing. The ancient Greeks had public baths, which contained individual hipbaths in rooms heated by charcoal braziers, and in their exercise halls there were facilities for cold-water showers. In Southern Italy, farmhouses sometimes had a small room that worked like a sauna, next to the kitchen.
The merging of these traditions in the 2nd century BC created an aesthetic and leisurely approach to bathing which was not simply a means of getting clean but also an end in itself. Around 80 BC, the development of the hypocaust, a system of underfloor heating, enabled rooms in a bathhouse to be heated to a higher and more uniform temperature.
The merging of these traditions in the 2nd century BC created an aesthetic and leisurely approach to bathing which was not simply a means of getting clean but also an end in itself. Around 80 BC, the development of the hypocaust, a system of underfloor heating, enabled rooms in a bathhouse to be heated to a higher and more uniform temperature.
So who could go?
In the baths, priests worked in the temple complex. Also all the following people were allowed to enter and use the baths at Bath. However, children were NOT allowed into the bathing complex.
- soldiers
- travellers
- freedmen/women
- priests
- healers
- scales
- pagans and Christians
- government officials
- rich veterans, who were people that had already served their 25 years in the army.
The bathing routine
A visit to the baths could last for the whole afternoon. Men and women would often bathe together, except in very large establishments where two separate suites might be provided. Although no clothing was usually worn wooden sandals were necessary to protect the bather’s feet in those rooms with under floor heating.
The basic sequence was as follows:
1. Undress in the changing room (apodytērium) leaving clothes and possessions in the care of a slave. Note that we can't see the changing rooms at the baths at Bath because they have crumbled it was most likely near the frigidarium and entrance of the complex.
2. Enter the warm room (tepidārium) where you would acclimatise to the heat.
3. Move to the hottest room, (caldārium) where there might be hot tubs for lying in or splashing oneself. A bell might ring to summon the bathers when the water had reached the best temperature.
4. In some bathhouses, especially larger establishments like Bath, there was a small room of intense dry heat, rather like a sauna, called the laconicum.
5. The bather would be oiled, massaged and then stroked clean with a strigil.
6. The bather then returned through the rooms in descending order of heat and the experience might end with a plunge into the cold plunge pool (frigidārium).
The basic sequence was as follows:
1. Undress in the changing room (apodytērium) leaving clothes and possessions in the care of a slave. Note that we can't see the changing rooms at the baths at Bath because they have crumbled it was most likely near the frigidarium and entrance of the complex.
2. Enter the warm room (tepidārium) where you would acclimatise to the heat.
3. Move to the hottest room, (caldārium) where there might be hot tubs for lying in or splashing oneself. A bell might ring to summon the bathers when the water had reached the best temperature.
4. In some bathhouses, especially larger establishments like Bath, there was a small room of intense dry heat, rather like a sauna, called the laconicum.
5. The bather would be oiled, massaged and then stroked clean with a strigil.
6. The bather then returned through the rooms in descending order of heat and the experience might end with a plunge into the cold plunge pool (frigidārium).
7. After having bathed, they may visit the temple of Sulis Minerva... (They were NOT allowed near any of the religious sections of the complex until they had cleaned themselves!)