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

hypocaust gif

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