Roman Baths- the Modern American Country Club

Steam rooms, hot foods, pools (kind of), exercise areas, and of course, an opportunity to socialize; the Roman baths were the ancient socialite setting of the modern American country clubs.

Socializing by the pool, an American tradition.

The Romans visited the public baths almost every day. Hygiene was very important but the baths offered so much more. Musicians, poets and jugglers were among the many entertainment options as you bathed. Romans valued a healthy lifestyle that included a nutritious diet and plenty of exercise. Before bathing, many visitors to the bath would exercise in the palaestra to work up a little sweat. Nothing competitive or difficult, just enough to get the blood flowing.

Before entering the bath, Romans loosened sweat and dirt from their skin. This may sound similar to taking a quick rinse before jumping into the pool, however; Romans had a much more complex process that took place in the tepidarium. What I find the most fascinating is the tools Romans would use to clean their skin. A process called “strigiling” was performed by using a small curved metal tool to scrape away dirt and other oils on the skin. This was before the use of soap so it was most effective after spreading oil over the skin to loosen dirt and then use the strigil to scrape it off. Even more interesting was that your slave or a worker from the bath would scrape it for you. Really makes you grateful for your loofah, foam soap, and a private shower?

After your “strigiling” aka skin scrub, proceed to the caldarium. This is the first of many hot and cold baths. The caldarium could offer one or a sequence of pools, all heated by hypocaust. Hypocaust was a way to heat the pools by leaving space between walls and floors so smoke from the furnace would heat the room (pool) in all directions. The caldarium was heated to extreme temperatures to open up the skin’s pores to release additional dirt. At the baths of Caracalla, the caldarium was heated to almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit with 100 percent humidity. Today many country clubs consider saunas a luxury service to their members. Saunas and steam rooms offer guests a relaxed environment (if you can stand the heat) that can be good for one’s internal and external wellbeing. You may feel sticky but it’s worth it!

Baths at Caracalla. I just thought this was a great diagram to show how large the public baths were.

At one time Rome had over 900 bath houses, ranging in guest capacity of 300 to 1500 people. Most bath houses had one or two large pools, or the “Great Bath” as well as many small heated rooms with plunge pools. Men and women usually visited the public baths at separate times however larger baths could accommodate both sexes at one time. In Bath, England, the Roman bath has West and East bath suites that allowed for men and women to use the facilities simultaneously but still in separation.   

Summer 2008 I had the pleasure of visiting Bath and the Roman public bath.

The "Great Bath."

A smaller, heated pool.
Not the most ideal smell for bath water though.

After your time in the bath rooms, you may find yourself sun bathing in Mediterranean sun, enjoying the entertainers, or dining on fine fast foods. A typical summer afternoon in Arizona may sound quite similar, except swap the Mediterranean sun for the desert big blue sky. Although the Romans may have had jugglers for entertainment, today the more common form is the imagination of children who have just advanced to deep end of the pool privileges. Thousands of years later, the Roman baths have been adapted and although we may dine on hot dogs and watermelon instead of eggs and fish, the tradition of the Roman bath lives on, in the American country club. 

I just found this picture!
Me in Bath, England