ClaCiv Prep Dominic Wong 03/03/2007
What roles did Baths play in the lives of the Roman People?
By 354 AD, there were 952 baths of varying size all over the Roman Empire. Going to baths were part of the Roman's daily routines. They usually went to baths at about 2:00-3:00 in the afternoon and stayed for a few hours there before dinner. It was something that the Romans had to do everyday - it was obvious that the Baths played an important role in the lives of the Roman People.
Hygiene and cleanliness were important ideas to the Romans. They believed that bathing was a practice which had powerful effect of preventing and curing diseases. According to Natascha Zajac, 'The Romans believed that the human body was made up of four humours. Disease was thought to be the result of imbalance. A certain way of bathing restores the balance of humours.' Before going into the baths, the Romans usually did a lot of physical activities and sports, like ball games (e.g. Trigon), wrestling and weight-lifting in the Palestra, to maintain the fitness of their bodies. So therefore, going to Baths was a way for the Romans to be clean and healthy.
What roles did Baths play in the lives of the Roman People?
By 354 AD, there were 952 baths of varying size all over the Roman Empire. Going to baths were part of the Roman's daily routines. They usually went to baths at about 2:00-3:00 in the afternoon and stayed for a few hours there before dinner. It was something that the Romans had to do everyday - it was obvious that the Baths played an important role in the lives of the Roman People.
Hygiene and cleanliness were important ideas to the Romans. They believed that bathing was a practice which had powerful effect of preventing and curing diseases. According to Natascha Zajac, 'The Romans believed that the human body was made up of four humours. Disease was thought to be the result of imbalance. A certain way of bathing restores the balance of humours.' Before going into the baths, the Romans usually did a lot of physical activities and sports, like ball games (e.g. Trigon), wrestling and weight-lifting in the Palestra, to maintain the fitness of their bodies. So therefore, going to Baths was a way for the Romans to be clean and healthy.
