Roman Baths:

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BATHS OF TRAJAN

STABIAN BATHS OF POMPEII

LATRINES OF THE BATH AT OSTIA

The BATHS OF TRAJAN, 96-118 AD. One example of the numerous imperial bath complexes in the city of Rome. The complex employed the standard triad of tepidarium (air-temperature room), caldarium (heated "sauna" room), and frigidarium (cold room, often with plunge bath) and much more. Baths were kept inexpensive to encourage public hygiene among all urban elements. Further amenities included sporting grounds or palaestrae, massage parlors, restaurants, lecture halls, and libraries. Seneca tells what it was like to live above a bathhouse, where one could hear, for weary hours, the slap of the masseur, the grunts of the exercisers, and the shouting of participants in the various games.

The STABIAN BATHS OF POMPEII, an earlier example (1st century BC) of public baths in Italy with standard triad. Illustration depicts activities within the bath.

LATRINES OF THE BATH AT OSTIA: The Roman baths facilitated economies of scale, enabling municipalities to direct water from distant watersheds through aqueducts to supply the hygenic needs of the population. A much used facility was undoubtedly the public latrine, shown here, where human waste could be flushed by a constant flow of water running throughout the building.

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Last Updated: 02/17/2000