Were the baths really as enjoyable and important as many historians portray, and how do they compare to today's modern leisure activities?
Going to the Thermae baths was a significant part of every day life. It is said that almost everything was done at these huge sculptured buildings ranging from the obvious cleansing of the body to such things as doing business. Of all the leisure activities, bathing was surely the most important for the greatest number of Romans, since it was part of the daily regimen for men of all classes, and many women as well.
In today's world bathing is conducted as a very private activity completed in a specific room of the home, but bathing in Rome and surrounding cities was a communal activity, conducted for the most part in public facilities that in some ways resembled modern spas or health clubs although they were less expensive.
The idea of bathing universally in every day modern society belongs to the Roman world. The United Kingdom was first introduced to the baths when the Romans immigrated here. Baths were usually built from starch and water supplies were designed alike to the systems used in Rome. Apart from their normal hygienic functions, they provided facilities for sports and recreation, their public nature created the apposite environment, similar to common city clubs or community centres; for social interaction varying from neighbourhood gossip to business discussions.
There was even an academic side to the baths since the grand thermae, incorporated libraries, which were widely used and lecture halls also a major gymnasium; in this area such equipment as weights were kept and first introduced, today we use the same idea but most people now have these in their homes.
Although wealthy Romans might set up a bath in their town houses or especially in their country villas, they often attended the public bathhouses in the cities and towns throughout the empire. The equipment available was unable to be installed into small bathhouses, called balneae; these might be privately owned, but they were public in the sense that they were open to the community for a small fee, which was usually quite reasonable. The large baths, called thermae, were owned by the state or other emperors trying to promote their party, and to encourage the support of that specific government. The baths were so vast in its size that it would cover several city blocks. The water delivery was complicated but did not mean that pipes would scatter the walls.
'The Romans could not have built cities as big as they did without aqueducts-and some of their cities wouldn't have existed at all. Romans sometimes built cities on dry plains. They'd find a spring in the mountains and take that water into the city, which would not have been possible without the transported water. With the water, they could have their baths, their fountains, and their drinking water.' This quotation from a historian named Garrett Fagan, signifies that the water supply was in fact from only major water source, so the baths would never experience problems of running out of water. Lakes were unreliable in the eyes of the roman engineer.
'A tunnel might be five, 10, or even 20 feet down. They couldn't pump the water up, because it wasn't practical. So they would dig a tunnel right from the beginning. Some of these aqueducts are almost entirely underground.' This specific quotation from the same historian as named above states that the water waste was sent along huge underground tunnels, which means that it would not interfere with other supplies. For this extent of planning and design to be taken, it is obvious that the baths are more than important; in fact it is more of an every ...
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'A tunnel might be five, 10, or even 20 feet down. They couldn't pump the water up, because it wasn't practical. So they would dig a tunnel right from the beginning. Some of these aqueducts are almost entirely underground.' This specific quotation from the same historian as named above states that the water waste was sent along huge underground tunnels, which means that it would not interfere with other supplies. For this extent of planning and design to be taken, it is obvious that the baths are more than important; in fact it is more of an every day tradition.
Mixed bathing was generally frowned upon, although the fact that various emperors repeatedly forbade it seems to indicate that the prohibitions did not always work. Certainly women who were concerned about their respectability did not frequent the baths when the men were there, but of course the baths were an excellent place for prostitutes to pursue their trade. As a consequence it was not as important to women compared to men, but the business of prostitution was extremely popular.
Roman engineers developed an ingenious system of heating the baths, the hypocaust. The floor was raised off the ground by pillars, as shown on the picture on the left. Spaces were left inside the walls so that hot air from the furnace 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. This particular picture shows tiles used to create the column which means they were able to be height adjusted.
With all these facilities available it just portrays that the facilities were being used and valued so historians are correct in thinking that these areas were enjoyable. Baths were initially for men only. I suppose that they were even then considered places for important matters and business to be discussed and as a result it was thought that there was no need to consider an area for women. As the women had no place in the baths as they had no business to discus, the poorer person would also not be permitted to frequent the baths. Poor people generally as a result could not enjoy the entertainment. The size of baths grew to huge proportions.
The setting of the baths would represent today's country club. The private bath in rich persons homes were fine for a good soak but there was no other luxuries there. When out in the country and away from the activity of the city, the bath in one's own villa will do, this simply shows that roman baths were truly exquisite and almost life fulfilling. While the baths would have stimulated your body, they also could stimulate your mind.
Baths were no longer a privilege for the wealthy although even the cheapest public bath did charge a fee of 1 quadrans for about an hour of soaking and chatting, jogging, wrestling, meet friends or conduct business. Most usually arrived shortly after midday. The bathhouse operators, who were usually freedmen, would keep the facility open until dusk despite knowing that the streets of Rome were not considered safe at night. Outside of Rome they may have been open later. It was vital for Roman men to show off their physique in from of their friends and family, the majority of men wanted to be of a superior state while still being able to communicate in high standards of language. The baths were an important part if not the most important sector of a man's life.
Over 1300 oil lamps were found in the ruins of one bath in Pompeii. Gradually women gained more financial power as well as more status; the baths would have had to become available to them as well, so consequently it did. Women either had separate facilities or were allowed to use the full establishment at a time earlier than men, generally from dawn to 1 p.m. but there might be mixed bathing in the large pools.
The poor were sometimes allowed to use baths without a fee when some wealthy individual such as government officials, perhaps seeking votes, would purchase the use of a bath for an afternoon and open without charge to the less fortunate. The equivalent for today is when a corporation might buy a block of tickets for theatre or symphony performances and donate them to a senior citizen center.
In addition to entertainment, the bathers were surrounded by beautiful artwork. Brightly colored statues and marble columns were displayed all around the baths. Mosaics made of glass covered the floors and the ceilings. Much of this beautiful artwork was later removed to help construct the cathedrals and medieval buildings, but ancient tile mosaics has been excavated and preserved.
Although Bath was never a major city in the Roman Empire, its baths were built on a large scale and optimum materials were used to satisfy the great number of visitors and the permanent residents. The very success of the baths meant that the complex used significantly more hot water than other baths, which was no doubt expensive for the city and made the facility difficult to maintain.
There was a vast amount that could be done at the baths, the modern equivalents would be; general sport and fitness, museums, libraries, galleries, and such things as general cleanings of the body.
The baths gave each person who attended a chance to get in touch with themselves again in a peaceful environment as well as being able to socialize. We know that slaves were kept close with the belongings of the persons using the facilities; this illustrates that along with the masses of entertainment that could be achieved there were the odd thieves that would try to sneak away with the latest toga.
Today we use the internet in a similar way. The business factors can be achieved with the use of e-mails and instant messaging while still being able to sit back viewing some artistic paintings and mosaics with some old classics playing in the background. Again thieves are also known in this sector. Thieves try to steal people identity to buy such items as the latest clothing and technology. However we are unable to protect ourselves with the newest version of a slave. Instead we have software's that will follow our commands.
And if the internet is satisfying and entertaining then the baths should be just as good in the same way. And they do relate to modern leisure activities meaning that we are simply Romans, we have not changed in so many ways, entertainment and cleansing being just two of them.
The bath was not only used for the every day purpose of cleansing, in fact it was used for healing, fitness, and entertainment. There were 170 baths in Rome during the reign of Augustus and by 300 A.D that number had increased to over 900 baths. The huge growth of baths obviously meant that the popularity and uses of them also grew alongside.
The baths were huge buildings built at public expense or by rich emperors who wished to impress their subjects. Sometimes rich Romans who were trying to gain popularity paid entry for a whole day for anyone wishing to visit the baths. Emperors would only offer something to the public if they knew it would gain them recognition in the near future, for example the amphitheatre was a immense show and was widely enjoyed both by the emperors and their subjects, in the same way, the thermae is widely used and valued.
These baths were scattered all over the Roman Empire, but were even more popular in the larger cities. The illustration on the left shows the Roman Empire, this area is shaded in Green; Rome was the main country in which the royalties aimed to build new baths as it was an important, respected and greatly conjested countries.
A Roman could tell how important or wealthy a person was from their toga. Free Roman men wore the toga instead of a cloak. The toga was made from white wool or white Egyptian linen. It was square or rectangular in shape and was worn draped around the body. The toga was worn often during state occasions. Consuls and senators wore a toga edged with purple. Some Roman senators wore white togas that were ten meters long! Some emperors' togas were made entirely from either purple or black cloth. The prices for some of the togas were unimaginable, this is why, while people were bathing some togas would be stolen, and so the emperor would be blamed indirectly. The result of this was that he lost support from the local community. Emperors made sure that slaves then guarded the area from potential thieves, togas were important to people as some had great value, upper class persons would also come to the baths sometimes even if they had smaller baths at home, which meant security was needed.
From about A.D 200 the different styles of glass came together and the Roman Empire began to make glass of the same kind. Glass was used more generally than ever before. Thousands of bottles were made to hold oil, wine, and other liquids and they were often square in shape so that could be packed together conveniently without wasting space, stained glass was also popular as replica paintings could be made using glass, these were widely used in the baths, to make the area more appealing and comfortable. In the villas of the rich people the windows had glass. Glass for ordinary use often had a pleasant blue, green or brown tinge, for although the glass-makers could make clear glass it was very expensive. For this to be used in the thermae it would have had to be an area of significant importance. In the countries of the Near East and of the Eastern part of the old empire glass was still made, but in smaller quantities and only for luxury use, which shows that the baths were expensive to build and so much of been wholly appreciated.
By Ram Kanadia 10 SAB
