Bathing complexes in Pompeii (Also called thermae)

Caldarium of Forum Baths, Pompeii Pompeii- Architecture WHAT CAN THE BATHS AT POMPEII TELL US ABOUT ROMAN LIFE? Bathing was one of the most common daily activities in Roman culture Only the very wealthy could afford to have their own bathing facilities Therefore, bathing most commonly occurred in public facilities and was a communal activity Caldarium of Forum Baths, Pompeii

Pompeii- Architecture WHAT CAN THE BATHS AT POMPEII TELL US ABOUT ROMAN LIFE? No less than 3 public baths have been excavated at Pompeii, highlighting the importance of bathing in Roman society STABIAN BATHS FORUM BATHS CENTRAL BATHS

Pompeii- Architecture WHAT CAN THE BATHS AT POMPEII TELL US ABOUT ROMAN LIFE? Bathing was quite a process! It was more like visiting the spa than taking a quick dip After exercising, the Romans went through a series of rooms containing baths in a pattern from hot to cold. Caldarium Frigidarium Tepidarium

Natatio (Swimming pool) Pompeii- Architecture WHAT CAN THE BATHS AT POMPEII TELL US ABOUT ROMAN LIFE? EXERCISE Many Roman baths had areas for exercise contained within the complex. Training the body was an important part of daily life. Highlighted on the floor plan of the Stabian Baths is the Natatio (swimming pool) and the Palaestra, an exercise yard. After changing, this was often the first part of the bathing process where by men would train to work up a sweat before bathing. Natatio (Swimming pool) Palaestra (exercise yard)

Palaestra (exercise yard) of Stabian Baths Pompeii- Architecture WHAT CAN THE BATHS AT POMPEII TELL US ABOUT ROMAN LIFE? Palaestra (exercise yard) of Stabian Baths Portico of Palaestra

Pompeii- Architecture WHAT CAN THE BATHS AT POMPEII TELL US ABOUT ROMAN LIFE? Men and Women It is clear that men and women bathed separately in ancient Rome. Bathing was conducted in the nude and, therefore, it was unacceptable for women and men to bathe together. This was provided for in the complexes below- completely separate facilities were provided for women. Forum Baths Stabian Baths

Details of tepidarium in Forum Baths Pompeii- Architecture WHAT CAN THE BATHS AT POMPEII TELL US ABOUT ROMAN LIFE? Beautiful Baths! The baths were richly decorated showing the wealth of the city who could produce such magnificent bathing complexes Details of tepidarium in Forum Baths

Caldarium- Forum Baths Pompeii- Architecture WHAT CAN THE BATHS AT POMPEII TELL US ABOUT ROMAN LIFE? Beautiful Baths! The baths were richly decorated showing the wealth of the city who could produce such magnificent bathing complexes Caldarium- Forum Baths

Apodyterium- Stabian Baths Pompeii- Architecture WHAT CAN THE BATHS AT POMPEII TELL US ABOUT ROMAN LIFE? Beautiful Baths! The baths were richly decorated showing the wealth of the city who could produce such magnificent bathing complexes Apodyterium- Stabian Baths

Features of a bathing complex: Different sections for men and women or different bathing hours for each gender. Vaulted ceilings, walls and ceilings decorated in stucco, floors in mosaics. Various rooms: Apodyterium – changing and waiting room with niches Frigidarium – circular cold bath Tepidarium – warm room for transition from hot to cold and vice versa – laconium sometimes off the tepidarium Caldarium – hot room, rectangular heated bath (alverus – could hold ten people, marble) and large circular basin (labrum) for cold water. Heating was provided by a hypocaust system. An exercise area Toilets Heating system - furnaces provide heat, heated air is sent through a hypocaust system to the caldarium and sometimes the tepidarium

Conclusions Bathing was an important part of daily life and a visit to the bath could take many hours Training the body or exercising was also part of daily life The bathing process was complex and followed a series of steps which went from hot to cold Social custom dictated that men and women bathed separately Pompeii was a wealthy city as it was able to afford to build grand complexes that were richly decorated

Republican / Pompeian Style Imperial Style Republican / Pompeian Style earlier style, smaller asymmetric No laconicum different facilities for men and women larger scale bilateral symmetry (mirror image) same facilities for both sexes

Forum Baths - Locate on your map Built around 80 BC by Lucius Caesius (duovir) and Caius Occius and Lucius Niraemius according to two inscriptions Only baths in operation at the time of the eruption in AD 79 as they had been repaired quickly after the earthquake of AD 62 Separated into men and women’s section; the men’s section was much larger and more ornately decorated Palaestra in men’s section Three entrances to the men’s section: Via delle Terme, Via del Foro, Vicolo delle Terme. Only one entrance to the women’s section.

Forum Baths

 The Romans were as particular about cleanliness as we are in modern times. This public bathhouse, known today as the Forum Baths because of its location, was built soon after the Roman conquest in 80 B.C. The residents of Pompeii, both slave and free, who lived in the neighborhood would bathe here daily at public expense. This building was found well preserved when excavated in 1823.  The diagram to the right is the floor plan of the Forum Baths which shows the area reserved for men in blue and the area for women in green. The various sections on the floor plan are as follows:  A men's entrance. B women's entrance. 1 men's apodyterium, or dressing room. 2 frigidarium, or cold bath. 3 tepidarium, or warm bath. 4 calidarium, or hot bath. 5 palaestra, or gymnasium. 6 bronze brazier and seats. 7 basin for ablutions. 8 bathtub. 9 furnaces for air and water at different temperatures, serving the facilities for both men and women. 10 women's dressing room. 11 tub for cold bath. 12 tepidarium. 13 calidarium. 14 open-air courtyard.

Forum Baths This photograph shows the caldarium (hot room) of the Forum Baths. Thanks to under-floor heating, and air ducts built into the walls, the whole room would have been full of steam when in use. Grooves in the ceiling allowed condensation to be channelled to the walls, rather than drip onto bathers. Cold water was piped into the basin at the centre of the photograph, thus enabling bathers to cool off when they wanted.

Stabian Baths - Locate on your town map

Stabian Baths The Stabian Baths take their name from the fact that they lie at the intersection of the Via Stabiana and the Via dell'Abbondanza. They are the oldest baths in Pompeii and four different building phases can be identified. The oldest part seems to date from the 4th century BC and consisted of the palaestra, a series of small rooms with tubs along its north side and a well to furnish water. The establishment covers a total surface area of over 3,500 square metres and is divided into two adjacent section, respectively reserved for men and woman and includes a courtyard which was used as a gymnasium. Three sides of the courtyard have colonnades with stuccoed tuff-stone pillars, while the fourth side borders onto a large swimming-pool one and a half metres deep. Separated from the gymnasium by a low wall, the latter could be reached from two side-rooms where the bathers would probably get changed for the bathing rite. The bathing establishment proper occupies the longer side of the peristyle. A door in the right-hand corner of the colonnade leads to the men’s section. The first room on the left is a chamber for cold bath (frigidarium), which is round in shape, with four corner niches and a pool in the centre. The water used to feed the pool flowed from another niches in the north-facing wall. The fact that this room came before the one where the bathers undressed may suggest that it was actually used as a laconicum, a steam room in which the air was heated by means of bronze braziers. From the entrance hall the bather entered the changing room (apodyterium), which is plastered in white except for a red band running all round the lower half of the walls. The next room is the tepidarium, in which warm bath were taken. It was heated by hot air which circulated under the floor and trough cavities in the walls themselves. Follows the calidarium, where the tube on the right-hand side was used for hot baths. Walking along the gymnasium colonnade, we reach the entrance door to the women’s section. Here the rooms follows the same sequence as in the men’s section, but there’s no frigidarium.

Strigils - Used for scraping off oil and dirt on the body