History of the Baths



Bathing and hygiene was a part of the Roman lifestyle long before the grand thermae were built by the Caesars. As early as the third century B.C., wealthy Romans built private baths in their houses. This was called a balneum. In these early times, Republican modesty demanded solo bathing, and so private bathing at home was all that took place. But as the years passed, social bathing became more accepted and public, single-sex balneae were constructed. These structures came in all sizes, accomodating many or few.


They were built privately, and run on an incredibly cheap entrance fee of only one quadrans (1 quadrans = 1/4 of an as, or approximately half a penny). Bathing was now available to all social classes, and on a daily basis for most, as opposed to the typical damp scrubbing the common masses previously gave themselves once a week. In 33 B.C., the aedile Agrippa took a census of all the baths in Rome, counting 170. This number would later advance as high as 856 near the end of the Roman Empire, as well as 11 imperial thermae. The first of these giant baths, called thermae, was constructed by Agrippa shorty after his term as aedile. These monstrous buildings were to be free to all who used them, and while many upper class patricians preferred the more exclusive private baths, all levels of society could be found in the great thermae. Even the Emperor Hadrian used them on occasion. Social barriers broke down here, at least to some extent, and eventually, even the sex barrier broke. For a time, women and men could bathe at the same time, although this would later be prohibited again. Nonetheless, the thermae became a social hub in the Roman lifestyle.


The most famous of the thermae were, in order of construction, the Thermae of Agrippa, Nero, Titus, Trajan, Caracalla (really Antoninus), Diocletion, and Constantine. Each of these had its own unique design, but they were for the most part very similar to each other. They all had baths of various temperatures, excersize areas, gardens, even libraries, theatres, and stadiums. The Thermae of Caracalla boasted 64 huge, vaulted chambers. In these, recreation and relaxation was the main activity, with the added bonus of hygiene, but business and politics were also present. There was literally something for everyone at the thermae. Art and sculpture was found everywhere, from the walls and ceiling to the walks and gardens, and the buildings themselves were masterpieces of architecture. The remains in Rome today of these thermae are testimony to the beauty that was Rome, where even bathing became an everyday art.


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