![]() At the height of the Empire, arguably, there were more baths in the ancient world than any other type of building, including temples. The privilege of owning public baths was not restricted to urban centers even in distant villages, baths were considered as a basic necessity of life. To be deprived of bathing privileges was one of the harshest punishments that could be meted out to a community: such a fate was suffered by Antioch in 387 ce (John Chrysostom, On the Statues 13.2–6 Libanius, Orations 22.2–7). 1 Other centers, such as Antioch-on-the-Orontes or Timgad, had dozens. ![]() Constantinople by the end of the 5th century had 8 thermae and 153 small baths, twenty-six of whose sites can be identified ( Notitia Urbis Constantinopolitanae). By the beginning of the 4th century ce, Rome had 856 small baths ( balneae) and 10 thermae, the latter designated by name ( Notitia Urbis Regionum and Curiosum Urbis Romae Regionum). Physical and archaeological evidence testifies to the popularity of public baths and bathing. The pleasures of the Roman bath, indeed, attracted people at all levels of the society in an inclusive, popular, quasi-democratic setting. This politically inspired story underlines Hadrian’s sharp wit and modesty in visiting public baths and washing with his subjects. Next time in public baths, Hadrian was treated to the sight of a row of old men scraping themselves against walls the witty emperor disappointed them by advising them to rub each other (S.H.A. There is a story, probably apocryphal, featuring the Emperor Hadrian’s generosity to an old soldier who was rubbing his back against the marble wall of a public bath because he could not afford to pay an attendant to massage him. The tradition of public bathing and baths passed on to Early Christian, Byzantine, and Medieval Islamic societies across Asia Minor and the eastern Mediterranean. These grand bathing palaces combined exercise, bathing, recreation, and quasi-intellectual activities in vast, park-like precincts, as best exemplified by the Thermae of Caracalla in Rome. There is little doubt that bathing as an ultimate luxurious experience was epitomized by the imperial thermae first developed in Rome and spread to the provinces. The earliest Roman baths ( balneae), which show the mastery of floor and wall heating, and a planning system based on controlled and graded heating of spaces, emerged in Latium and Campania by the early 2nd century bce. The origins of Roman baths can be traced in the simpler Greek baths and the bathing facilities of the Greek gymnasium and palaestra, as well as the farm traditions of rural Italy. ![]() ![]() Public bathing as a daily habit, a hygienic, medicinal, recreational, and luxurious experience belonged to the Romans. Ordinary Greeks bathed at home or in public baths characterized by circular chambers with hip-baths and rudimentary heating systems. In Homer’s world, bathing in warm water was a reward reserved for heroes. ![]()
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