Roman baths - how they were kept clean
Listener's query
"The ancient Romans have always had a reputation for cleanliness. Where there was a Roman there was sure to be a bath. But how did they keep them from going green and murky without the use of chemicals and filtration as in modern pools? I'm sure lavish use of slaves sieving the water through tights wouldn't have been enough."
Brief summary
Bathing did not begin with the Romans. There is architectural evidence of the importance to both the Egyptians and the Greeks of baths and bathing, but they had an especially high profile in Roman society. Wherever the empire spread, the Romans built baths for steaming, cleaning, massage and socialising. The Roman aqueducts fed baths in the capital itself and these were on the grandest scale.
Typically, Roman baths were a complex of rooms where people would bathe, relax and carry on social activity. The bathing seems to have followed a routine which would include anointing with oil, exercise, the hot room, the steam room, the warm room and the cold plunge, as well as a swimming pool.
The typical Roman baths would not have used a great deal of water. They were indoors and, following the sequence of heated rooms, there would have been a system of keeping the water moving round. Those in the city of Bath are a typical example because there is a natural supply of mineral-rich hot water always on the move. There was a roof and it was not, as it is now, exposed to daylight which allows for the development through photosynthesis of algae which today have turned the water naturally green.
Experts consulted
Stephen Clews, Curator at the Roman Baths at Bath
Further reading
Inge Nielsen, Thermae et Balnea: The Architecture and Cultural History of Roman Public Baths (Aarhus University Press, 1993)
Barry Cunliffe, Roman Baths: A Guide to the Baths and Roman Museum (Bath Archaeological Trust, 1980)
Garret G. Fagan, Bathing in Public in the Roman World (University of Michigan Press, 1998)
Website
Place to visit
The Roman Baths
Stall Street, Bath BA1 1LZ
Tel: 01225 477785
Fax: 01225 477743
Website:
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Vanessa has presented听science and current affairs programmes for 成人论坛, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Discovery and has presented for 成人论坛 Radio 4 & Five Live and a regular contributor to the Daily Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday, Scotsman and Sunday Herald.听