The Importance of the Baths to Roman Society

The Importance of the Baths to Roman Society,

The Uses and who used them

How important were the baths in the Roman world? A modern scholar Fikret YegÐ"јl sums up the significance of Roman baths in the following way "The universal acceptance of bathing as a central event in daily life belongs to the Roman world and it is hardly an exaggeration to say that at the height of the empire, the baths embodied the ideal Roman way of urban life. Apart from their normal hygienic functions, they provided facilities for sports and recreation. Their public nature created the proper environmentÐ'--much like a city club or community centerÐ'--for social intercourse varying from neighborhood gossip to business discussions. There was even a cultural and intellectual side to the baths since the truly grand establishments, the thermae, incorporated libraries, lecture halls, colonnades, and promenades and assumed a character like the Greek gymnasium." (Baths and Bathing in Classical Antiquity. Cambridge: MIT, 1992)

Just by the amount of baths there was in the Roman empire it is safe to say very important but what were the uses and who could use them? Roman baths had many uses in the Roman world. Obviously they were used for bathing but they had many other uses, for example the social use of the baths was very important to the Romans. The baths were very important to Roman society, this we can tell purely on the amount of baths there was in the Roman Empire and the grand scale of the baths that the emperors built for example the Diocletian baths, built by the emperor Diocletian and completed in A.D. 305 covered an area of 130,000 sq. yards. But where the baths important in other ways to the Romans and not just for bathing, for example were the baths used for Romanization?

Bathing was a social phenomenon in ancient Rome. W. R. Inge in Society in Rome Under the Caesars (London 1888) argued that bathing has to be classed as an amusement because the average citizen spent so much of his day at the baths. Unlike today where bathing is very private bathing had a big social role in Rome. There were a lot of baths in Rome by the 4th century A.D. Rome had 11 thermae (public baths) and 856 private baths. It was the major reason for a big water supply to the city, so that the baths could be fed. Baths only became open to the public (as far as we know) in the 3rd century B.C. but the writer Plautus suggests that the Roman audience would not find them unfamiliar suggesting they may have been around for longer. The early baths were run for profit, the charge was very small though a quadraus, a quarter of an as. It was higher for women possibly because of hygiene reasons, long hair and menstruation. It wasn't until 33 B.C. that the first thermae was built by Aggripa, which was opened for free.

The baths were made up of different areas, you had the bathing areas, baths had hot and cold pools, towels, steam rooms, saunas and exercise rooms. They had reading rooms and libraries, as most of the citizens, who went frequently to the baths, could read. Generally, Romans would first go to the unctuarium where they had oil rubbed onto their skin and would then exercise in the gymnasium O. F. Robinson suggests in Ancient Rome City Planning and Administration (Routledge 1992) that the emperor Nero was the first builder of the baths to link bathing with athletics. From here they would move to the tepidarium or warm room where they would stay and maybe talk to friends and even do business. Then they moved on to the Caldarium, similar to a Turkish bath, it was hot and steamy like a modern day sauna. Here they sat and perspired, having a slave scraping their skin with a strigil, a curved metal tool, or they themselves would do it if they couldn't afford a slave. Then they went into the caldarium (hot room) and after they went for a swim in the frigidarium (cold bath). After swimming, the bather might enjoy a massage where he might have oils and perfumes rubbed into his skin. After the bath the Roman might walk through the gardens decorated with mosaics and sculptures. The baths were beautifully decorated Seneca in his 86th letter says "the walls blazed with precious marbles the chambers were adorned on every side with gorgeous mosaics, the water was discharged from silver taps into marble basins." (W.R. Inge, Society in Rome under the Caesars, 1888, London)

As I have already mentioned the baths had other uses than just for bathing. The baths had other things such as libraries, shops, gymnasiums and gardens to walk in. The Roman baths are important social and cultural centers in the Roman world. With the libraries it shows that it is an important cultural area for the Romans, and it is a important social area with most citizens going to the baths every day after work (about 2pm the Roman day's work was from sunrise to about 12pm) there they could socialize with there fellow Romans and also it is a very good place to do business, the philosopher Seneca complained about the noise of the baths when he lived near one, the baths were obviously a popular place and with the shop venders no doubt noisy. J. DeLaine and D. E. Johston in Roman Baths and Bathing (Rode Island 1999) argues that the baths of Rome could be "the equivalent of the gymnasium, the cultural and athletic focus of the Greek city" they are arguing that the baths are the center for culture in the Roman world, at the baths you have your libraries you also at some baths have seating areas where poets practice there new poems on the bathers, they are arguing that the baths are part of the culture of Rome and the Roman empire.

The baths were also important for controlling the masses, the citizens, they are the consequence of civil benefaction didn't control the citizens by force but by appealing to there bodily comforts and desires. Big public buildings that still survive show off Rome's power and the power it used to have, the baths are no different the big thermae baths showed off Rome's power to its people and neighbors by showing them the impressive building skills and also the technology of the heating and water supply. The local elite were critical in the Roman empires urbanization, the elite paid for it, they did this so they could please the people and get support off the citizens. The elite built huge baths; they were the most expensive and largest of major buildings gifted to Rome. The Caracalla baths were 27 acres while the baths of Diocletian were 32 acres.

The baths were also very important for the Ð''Romanization' of the empire. All major cities would have thermae baths in them, Woolf said of Romanization in its broadest sense referring not to a single standard Roman culture but to "an