Baths Flashcards
Did genders mix in baths
Genders did not mix
Forum baths at Herculaneum had separate facilities
Other baths had designated times for each gender
Importance of baths
Social interaction, meeting friends, political allies and business associates
People of all classes regularly bathed, shows it was an integral part of life
How did they work
Water supplied by city water supply
Flowed into furnace room
Heated for the calidarium (hot bath)
Made warm for tepidarium
Steam from the furnace room circulated between the walls in a hypocaust (heating system) to create a sauna effect
Bathing experience
May have taken hours
Massages, exercise areas and food was provided
Could be lathered with oils and scraped by strigils to remove sweat and dirt
Finished in frigidarium (cold bath)
How was water supplied
Imperial aqueduct from Apennine mountains
How was water supplied
Branch aqueducts were built to several campanian towns
Stored in a reservoir at highest point in city
Channeled to secondary towers with
- filtration systems
- pressure regulators
Carried in lead pipes to outlets such as the baths, public fountains, latrines
Which town had better sanitation?
Herculaneum may have been superior
- Pompeii had stepping stones across roads which may have been flooded
- Herculaneum had an excellent drainage system into an underground sewer
How did latrines work?
Toilets were found in most places where people would accumulate
Forum, baths, palestra
Down sloping trough alongside the
