Roman Baths
Layout
order
palaestra
apodyterium
an area where bathgoers would go to exercise and work up a sweat
the changing room, comes from the Greek verb apoduien ('to take off')
tepidarium
the "warm room" - had no bath but was highly decorated, used to warm you up before the caldarium
caldarium
the "hot room" - so hot you had to wear sandals. strigils and oils to scrape dead skin off were used here
frigidarium
the "cold room", to remove sweat and close pores
other rooms
furnace
created hot air and smoke that was sent through the baths via the hypocaust. wood was used as a fuel
the hypocaust: a slave would man the fire, then hot air would pass up the flue to heat up the walls. the hot air would also pass through brick piles to heat up the floor. finally hot air would pass up a flue at the other end to heat the other room
natatio
bathing pool where visitors could socialise
latrine
the toilets
sudatorium/laconicum
even hotter than caldarium - went in after caldarium
shops
was situated in the forum so was surrounded by shops
Activities
slaves
held towels, stoked fires, cleaned pavements, looked after clothes, sold things to visitors, massaged, plucked hair
elite women
women's competitions in the palaestra when men weren't there
woke up before daylight - no one awake, no sunlight, uncomfortable conditions, had dark unpleasant areas,
weightlifting, running, throwing a ball (trigon), throwing discus. won laurel crown and palm fronds
dirt and oil scraped off, take a scroll, buy a light snack, talk to other important women, sunbathe, massage, manicure
went when husbands were doing business, very close to husbands' places of business so ideal place to go, took their slave, a grand and beautiful place