Social functions and architectural features of Roman baths

Roman Baths of Ancient Rome

While majority of contemporary cultures view bathing as a private activity that should only be carried out in the confines of a home, for ancient Romans, it was a social event. Baths, a common feature of Roman cities at the time, were used for bathing and relaxing, often in huge bath complexes. Although most people would go to public baths to get clean, the bath complexes also included various rooms that offered different temperatures, reading facilities, swimming pools, restaurants and other entertainment facilities[footnoteRef:1]. In fact, people would watch a juggler, an acrobatic gymnast, and listen to a poem recital or a musician while they bathed[footnoteRef:2] . [1: Kubesh, Katie, McNeil, Niki and Bellotto, Kim, Ancient Rome, (Coloma, MI: HOCPP, 2007), 23] [2: Kubesh, Niki and Bellotto, Ancient Rome, 22]

In their original state, bath complexes contained dozens of columns of varying sizes, which were fashioned with marble and precious stones[footnoteRef:3]. Unsupported walls were held apart with concrete in the form of stiff mortared rubble. This facilitated the creation of large airy rooms with high ceilings, features used in public buildings to date. The baths were often heated by a central heating system and bath fires kept burning beneath the basements[footnoteRef:4]. [3: Fagan, Garrett, Bathing in Public in the Roman World, (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan, 2002), 178] [4: Kubesh, Niki and Bellotto, Ancient Rome, 22]

The origin and historical development of Roman Baths

Roman baths owe their origin to hot springs that would produce more than 500 gallons of water a day at 120 degrees Fahrenheit[footnoteRef:5]. Early in the first century, the first shrine was built by people of the Iron Age, which they dedicated to the goddess Sulis Mirneva; the origin of the cities Roman name. A good example is the Great Bath at the end of a channel led from the sacred spring, shown in the diagram below. [5: Fagan, Bathing in Public in the Roman World, 62]

The oldest baths at Pompeii, an ancient Roman City, are the Stabian Baths. In 80 B.C, the city became a Roman colony, taking over the facility, which was then extended after the establishment of the Sullan Colony[footnoteRef:6]. Pompeians extended bathing facilities owing to new water outlets and a need to keep up with bathing fashions. Stabian baths were then replaced with smaller Forum baths, which were later extended in the Augustan period by adding the women's section; the original baths had been for men only[footnoteRef:7]. Bath complexes were then constructed in newer and better designs over the years, and after the fall of the Roman Empire, they still endured through the era of the Ottoman Empire and the Byzantium era. Today, numerous spas borrow a lot from Roman baths, most being situated within leisure centers with gyms and swimming pool facilities. [6: Fagan, Bathing in Public in the Roman World, 56] [7: Fagan, Bathing in Public in the Roman World, 59]

Fun fact

While bathing today is considered a feminine and sometimes intimate activity, in ancient Rome, male areas of the bath were larger and more elaborate; and operators insisted that women had to bathe separately as the men only had time to discuss important matters!