Ancient Rome Bathrooms – Bathrooms in rome are different than what many people find back home. Though many contemporary cultures see bathing as a very private activity conducted in the home bathing in rome was a communal activity. Despite their proficiency with plumbing and engineering the romans did not invent the toilet. Stands for water closet which was once the way bathrooms were euphemistically called in english. They were first excavated in the 18th century and since then these sites have given us a wonderful view into ancient roman society. According to cambridge archeologist augusta mcmahon the first simple toilets were mesopotamian pits..
It was one of the most common daily activities in roman culture and was practiced across a wide variety of social classes.
Ancient rome bathrooms. Greek and roman history from archaeology 1960 1990 london. Daily life in ancient rome translated from the french by christopher woodall. Though the ancient romans may be more well known for things like military prowess and leafy hats they have also been lauded for being awesome at toilets.
In many cases they were beautiful with frescoes on the walls sculptures in the corners and rows of holes carved into cold italian marble slabs. M any of the bathrooms uncovered at pompeii and elsewhere were communal. First of all they are usually called toilette or w c pronounced in italian voo chee you may also see the words bagno or servizi the w c.
Bathing played a major part in ancient roman culture and society. The roman baths were typically called thermae taken from the greek word for hot and if they were smaller establishments or privately owned they were often called balneae. Peter aicher an associate professor of classics at the university of southern maine has spent years studying the graceful arches and ingenious plumbing of ancient rome s vast water distrubution.
A mainstay of roman culture public baths were a feature of ancient greek towns but were usually limited to a series of hip baths. The book 100 ideas that changed the world. The baths of ancient rome were an important part of the culture and society for nearly everyone and was a defining feature of this empire.
After the baths fell into disuse in 537 ce they were abandoned and eventually looted and otherwise destroyed due to disuse and earthquakes. Like many things from ancient rome a lot of the materials used to build the baths in the first place were recycled to make other things during the middle ages and renaissance. In some ways these resembled modern day destination spa.
The romans expanded the idea to incorporate a wide array of facilities and baths became common in even the smaller towns of the roman world where they were often located near the forum. While the extremely wealthy could afford bathing facilities in their homes most people bathed in the communal baths.
Ancient Rome Bathrooms – While the extremely wealthy could afford bathing facilities in their homes most people bathed in the communal baths. The romans expanded the idea to incorporate a wide array of facilities and baths became common in even the smaller towns of the roman world where they were often located near the forum. In some ways these resembled modern day destination spa. Like many things from ancient rome a lot of the materials used to build the baths in the first place were recycled to make other things during the middle ages and renaissance. After the baths fell into disuse in 537 ce they were abandoned and eventually looted and otherwise destroyed due to disuse and earthquakes. The baths of ancient rome were an important part of the culture and society for nearly everyone and was a defining feature of this empire..
