DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42778#0165
99
Chapter VI.
THE THERMVE OR BATHS.
THE term Thermae is given to those immense bathing
establishments built by the Emperors in order to ingratiate
themselves with the people.1 They were devoted not only
to the baths, which were of exceptional size and magnificence,
but to every kind of gymnastic pursuit—wrestling, boxing, racing,
jumping, etc.—to the training in the same for both youths and
athletes, and to various games. Beyond this, the Thermae were
the resort of the poets and philosophers, who held forth and made
known that which in our day is printed in the daily newspapers or
in books. Here, also, poets and authors could read in public their
latest works.
Admission to the men’s baths was either free, or very cheap ;
women paid a somewhat higher price. In some cases there were
separate baths for men and women; but in Rome mixed bathing
seems to have been prevalent. The bath was considered as a part
of the daily routine, and was generally taken in the afternoon after
the siesta, but in Rome itself not after sunset until the third century
a.d. ; though in Pompeii and elsewhere we have evidence of the
use of baths after dark. Large private town and country houses
had baths of their own (see the Chapter on Private Life).
There has always been some difficulty in assigning the right
names and purposes to the several halls, principally owing to the
fact that, although baths are frequently mentioned in ancient
authors, no adequate description has been given of the various
processes which had to be gone through when taking a bath, or of
the other purposes of the Thermae. One of the best illustrated
works on the subject is that of the Thermae of Caracalla, by Abel
Blouet, of the French Academy, published in 1828, and based on
1 Of smaller public baths there are said to have been in Rome over eight
hundred
Chapter VI.
THE THERMVE OR BATHS.
THE term Thermae is given to those immense bathing
establishments built by the Emperors in order to ingratiate
themselves with the people.1 They were devoted not only
to the baths, which were of exceptional size and magnificence,
but to every kind of gymnastic pursuit—wrestling, boxing, racing,
jumping, etc.—to the training in the same for both youths and
athletes, and to various games. Beyond this, the Thermae were
the resort of the poets and philosophers, who held forth and made
known that which in our day is printed in the daily newspapers or
in books. Here, also, poets and authors could read in public their
latest works.
Admission to the men’s baths was either free, or very cheap ;
women paid a somewhat higher price. In some cases there were
separate baths for men and women; but in Rome mixed bathing
seems to have been prevalent. The bath was considered as a part
of the daily routine, and was generally taken in the afternoon after
the siesta, but in Rome itself not after sunset until the third century
a.d. ; though in Pompeii and elsewhere we have evidence of the
use of baths after dark. Large private town and country houses
had baths of their own (see the Chapter on Private Life).
There has always been some difficulty in assigning the right
names and purposes to the several halls, principally owing to the
fact that, although baths are frequently mentioned in ancient
authors, no adequate description has been given of the various
processes which had to be gone through when taking a bath, or of
the other purposes of the Thermae. One of the best illustrated
works on the subject is that of the Thermae of Caracalla, by Abel
Blouet, of the French Academy, published in 1828, and based on
1 Of smaller public baths there are said to have been in Rome over eight
hundred