User:RPompeiiArchaeology/Ancient Roman bathing

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General Roman Bathing Notes


 * Fires of Vesuvius (241-250)
 * Not just about bathing but about a whole routine of processes such as working out, swimming, bathing, playing sports, being massaged with oil
 * Some baths had libraries and options to get a haircut
 * Every class in Roman society went to the baths
 * Some slaves also went
 * Romans thought that bathing was healthy but also thought that it was a habit that could corrupt a person
 * there is no firm evidence for a specific sequence to moving through the rooms
 * Most large baths in Pompeii were publicly owned as we can see from inscriptions
 * Sourcebook (D121-130)
 * Stabian Baths
 * Established in 3rd C BCE, major remodel in 2nd C BCE, more alterations in 80-50 BCE, more after 62CE
 * Had individual hip baths and multi-person pools
 * Earlier design element that later went out of style
 * Originally supplied by a cistern rather than an aqueduct
 * Forum Baths
 * Built in 1st C BCE, rebuilt in Augustan era
 * Suburban baths
 * Graffiti found near the entrance indicates baths were closely associated with other pleasures of the body
 * Erotic messages and others of food consumption
 * SPQR Mary Beard
 * 233, 307, 439, 492, 528
 * Daily life in ancient rome
 * It was common for visitors to spend a lot of time at the baths because of all of the different aspects to the complex, but it is unclear whether or not it was required for a person to spend a long time every time they visited the baths.
 * It was common for visitors to spend a lot of time at the baths because of all of the different aspects to the complex, but it is unclear whether or not it was required for a person to spend a long time every time they visited the baths.

Roman bathing practices
There were many activities that occurred in a Roman bathing complex that differ from modern conceptions of bathing. It was common for the people of Ancient Rome to spend a lot of time at the baths because of all of the different aspects to the complex, but it is unclear whether or not it was required for a person to spend this much time at every visit to the baths. The process of going to the baths could be described as a cross between working out at the gym, going to the spa, meeting friends for social activities, and bathing.

Inside the baths, visitors were usually completely nude, thus removing the indications of class difference usually found in clothing. At times during throughout the empire, it was even common for women and men to bathe together at the same time, although there are other indications of separate facilities for women and men.

One important aspect of a visit to the baths was the ritual of cleaning the body. This was done using oil rubbed into the skin of a bather which would then be scraped off with a strigil, a metal scraper with a wooden handle. They believed that the oil would absorb the dirt on a person's body and encourage sweating that would lead to unclogged pores and better general health.

As a social arena, the baths were often used to convene with those of a higher social status. Because both wealthy and poor Romans went to the baths, there was great opportunity for a client to talk to a patron or try and get an invitation to dinner.

Palaestra Paragraph:

One major component of a visit to the baths was working out and building athleticism. In Roman baths, there was often a palaestra, an outdoor courtyard surrounded by columns, which bathers would utilize like a modern day gym. Some activities that would occur in the palaestra included boxing, discus throwing, weight lifting, and wrestling–activities which are all depicted in mosaics from baths in Ostia. Initially a common Greek practice, this athletic competition in daily life became widespread in the Roman world.