THE HOT POOL AT BATH - LUXURY AT THE VERY EDGE OF THE EMPIRE
ROME: A NATION OBSESSED WITH BATHING
No nation, until modern times can bear comparison to the Ancient Romans in their obsessive love of bathing, which they indulged enthusiastically in all its forms. To the Romans the Thermae as they called the public baths were facilities not only for maintaining cleanliness and hygene in a dirty world, but were also an extremely popular combination of sports facility and social club – a comfortable place to relax with friends, to catch up on the gossip or simply to pass the time.
PAGE INDEX
The Importance of the Roman Bath
Chedworth Villa – Luxury in a Cold Land
The Baths at Bath- Goddess of the Hot Spring
Caracalla’s Baths in Rome – a Political Statement
Ostia – The Baths of an Ancient Seaport
The Importance of the Roman Bath
The City of Rome:
The Romans as they entered the Imperial era, lived in a city richly endowed with abundant supplies of water. Over past centuries, skilful engineers and far sighted administrators had provided for this with an elaborate system of aqueducts. The Roman aqueducts were an engineering and architectural triumph – an impressive system of conduits that brought large amounts of water to the Imperial City from sources many kilometers away.
Aqua Claudia
Chedworth Villa – Luxury in a Cold Land
An Opulent Country Estate in a Remote Part of the Empire:
The Roman conquest of Britain was initiated by the Emperor Claudius’ legions in AD 43 and after the trauma of Boudicca’s revolt in AD 61 the country settled down to a long period of peace and good administration (at least in the south) until around AD 410 when the last legions withdrew as the Western Empire collapsed under escalating barbarian attacks.
Floor Mosaic at Chedworth
The Baths at Bath – Goddess of the Hot Spring
The Goddess of the Spring:
The Ancient Britains believed that a Goddess created and inhabited the hot spring at the city of Bath in the South West of Britain. When the Romans arrived in the first century AD they associated the local deity with the Roman goddess Minerva and established a temple to her honour. Beside the temple they built the huge bathing facility that was to give the city its modern name.
The Hot Pool at Bath
Caracalla’s Baths in Rome – A Political Statement
Did Caracalla Invent “Quantitative Easing”?
The Emperor Caracalla reigned for only six years , from AD 211 – 217. Of murderous disposition, he tried to win popularity with his subjects, by constructing a massive public bath complex (thermae) as a lavish public facility, with its own aqueduct water supply and he also tried to curry favour with the troops by making huge cash donations to secure their loyalty. The baths were truly magnificent and the main hall was larger than St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. However his extravagance could be ill afforded by Rome, which was facing various crises on the borders and so he tried to overcome this obstacle by debasing the silver coinage by adulterating the coins with base metals - the result was a coinage that could not be trusted and spiralling inflation. This is exactly what the US administration is doing today as they spend furiously on public works and a runaway military budget – all funded by simply printing money, debasing the value of the dollar and destroying faith in the “greenback”. It didn’t work for Caracalla – he was assasinated anyway! Maybe there is a lesson in this?
Caracalla’s Thermae
Ostia – The Baths of an Ancient Sea Port
Ostia was the port City (entrepot) for the ancient city of Rome. It was founded in the fourth century BC and was situated where the river Tiber enters the Mediterannean, about 25km east of Rome. In ancient times there were extensive harbour works and warehouses, allowing large ocean going vessels to discharge their cargo for trans shipment to the capital on river craft and waggons. At least two public baths (thermae) were provided for the citizens of this prosperous harbour town and there still exist substantial well-preserved remains, including extensive very attractive mosaic floors.
Ostia Antica as it is called today can be reached by rapid suburban rail connections in about 30 minutes from Termini Station in Central Rome. Take the Metro line B to Pyramide station and then change at the adjacent Stazione Porta San Paolo onto the Ostia Lido line. Get off at Stazione Ostia Antica. You can travel all the way using the standard city BIT tickets (which is very cost effective – in 2008 it was only 1 Euro for a one way to Ostia)
Floor Mosaics from the Baths at Ostia
Many of the merchants of Ostia, who held large warehouse facilities beside the Tiber, were fabulously wealthy -although their families may well have come from very humble origins. Merchants were often freedmen (ex slaves), whose business acumen had managed to secure their own freedom, as a just reward from grateful masters, or patrons, for whom they had made large fortunes, using their skill as traders. Typically the public baths (or thermae) were the places to meet with other merchants in a congenial and relaxing atmosphere – a suitable place to initiate merchandising deals and to firm up arrangements for transporting cargoes with sea captains. The baths were open to all classes of free citizens and were essential for establishing social relationships for the purposes of facilitating trade and for acquiring all manner of services – they were probably also the ideal place to advance family connections through advantageous offers of of their daughters hand in marriage to the sons of other prosperous merchant families.
A Wealthy Merchant’s Tombstone from Ostia