Roman bath architecture holds significant importance in understanding the social, cultural, and technological advancements of the ancient Roman civilization. Baths were not just a means of relaxation but they were also served as social hubs with cultural and religious significance. They were a step into the architectural foray with features like planning, temperature control through construction, hygiene and sanitation to name a few. This article delves into some of these aspects that made the Roman Baths unique and architectural marvels.
Significance of Bath Houses
Bath houses were one of the most commonly used facilities of the Ancient Romans and also known as thermae or balneae. Thermae were usually the much larger imperial bath houses while balneae were the smaller bath houses that were in great numbers throughout Ancient Rome.
Bathing was not considered to be a luxury, rather a staple of the Roman empire. Accessible to rich and poor alike, Bath houses served as social hubs and allowed Romans to socialize, discuss politics, and do business. It was more like a modern-day spa that allowed Ancient Roman citizens to exercise, socialize, and bathe.
There were about 900 public bathhouses across the Ancient Roman Empire. A majority of the lavish baths were placed in the heart of the empire. The smaller bath houses housed roughly 300 people, whereas the larger ones had around 1,500. Bath homes were lavishly furnished with luxurious stones such as marble, gardens, courtyards, shops, restaurants, galleries, libraries, and statues.
Because of the expense of owning a bath, most Romans did not have one in their homes. Most Romans had a little water supply for daily usage, but not for personal cleanliness. Bathhouses only admitted adults and cost relatively little to visit. Men and women visited the bath house at separate times. Women were allowed in the early hours of the day, whereas men normally went after work.
Features of Bath Houses
Baths were built using millions of fireproof terracotta bricks and the finished buildings were usually sumptuous affairs with fine mosaic floors, marble-covered walls, and decorative statues.
Typical features (listed in the probable order bathers went through) were:
- Apodyterium – changing rooms
- Palaestrae – exercise rooms
- Natatio – open-air swimming pool.
- Laconica and sudatoria – superheated dry and wet sweating-rooms.
- Calidarium – hot room, heated and with a hot-water pool and a separate basin on a stand (labrum)
- Tepidarium – warm room, indirectly heated and with a tepid pool.
- Frigidarium – cool room, unheated and with a cold bath, often monumental in size and domed, it was the heart of the baths complex.
- Rooms for massage and other health treatments.
Bathing entailed more than just sitting in a pool. Many complexes were built to guide visitors through the stages of a cleansing process based on medical knowledge applicable to that era. People moved through rooms and pools that ranged from chilly to heated to hot before finishing with outdoor exercise.
The Heating System – Hypocaust
The Romans created an underfloor heating system, known as a hypocaust, to heat their baths.
Early baths were heated by natural hot water springs or braziers, but beginning in the first century BCE, more sophisticated heating systems were used, such as under-floor (hypocaust) heating powered by wood-burning furnaces (prafurniae). This was not a novel concept; Greek baths previously used such a system, but as was customary for the Romans, they adopted an idea and expanded on it for maximum efficiency. The massive fires from the furnaces forced warm air beneath the raised floor (suspensurae), which was supported by narrow pillars (pilae) made of solid stone, hollow cylinders, or polygonal or circular bricks. The flooring were tiled with 60 cm square tiles (bipedales), which were then decorated with artistic mosaics.
Walls also offered heating by having hollow rectangular tubes (tubuli) that conveyed hot air from furnaces inserted in them. Furthermore, some bricks like tegulae mammatae were used for trapping hot air and increasing insulation against heat loss. The use of glass in windows began in the first century CE, allowing for greater temperature regulation and the sun to give its own heat to the chamber.
The enormous amount of water required for the larger baths was supplied by purpose-built aqueducts and managed by massive reservoirs within the bath complex. The reservoir at the Baths of Diocletian in Rome could hold up to 20,000 m³ of water. Water was heated in massive lead boilers mounted above the furnaces. Water may be added (by lead pipes) to the heated water pools via a bronze half-cylinder (testudo) linked to the boilers. Once discharged into the pool, the hot water circulated via convection.
The Architecture – The Baths of Caracalla
Architects prioritized techniques that enhanced a sense of spaciousness. The bathing rooms had exceptionally high vaulted ceilings and massive columns, as well as a series of alcoves that made the space appear to continue eternally. External buttresses were technologically innovative and supported the frigidarium’s high ceiling. The primary bathing rooms were built on a large platform surrounded by gardens and auxiliary structures. The Baths were largely made of brick, but stucco cladding on the outer surfaces gave the impression of stonework.
The Baths of Caracalla in the southern area of Rome are perhaps the best preserved of all Roman baths.
Huge walls and arches still survive, attesting to the complex’s formidable size, which required around 6.9 million bricks and included 252 interior columns. They reach up to 30 m in height and encompass an area of 337 x 328 m, and include all of the classic aspects one would expect, such as a one-metre deep Olympic-size swimming pool and a remarkable circular caldarium (hot room) that reached the same height as Rome’s Pantheon and extended 36 m. The caldarium also had huge glass windows to take advantage of the sun’s heat, as well as two libraries, a watermill, and a waterfall.
The facility had four entrances and could have hosted up to 8,000 daily visitors. The walls were lined with 6,300 m³ of marble and granite. The ceiling was covered with glass mosaic that reflected light from the pools in an iridescent appearance. There were a pair of 6 m long fountains and a promenade terrace on the second story. The aqua Nova Antoniniana and aqua Marcia aqueducts, as well as local springs, supplied water that was stored in 18 cisterns.
The Influence on Architecture
The decline and final fall of the Western Roman Empire caused an inevitable breakdown of the infrastructure required to maintain bathhouses running. Baths had always been unpopular in the surviving Eastern Empire, and they were now costly and difficult to maintain. Despite this, Roman baths came to play major roles as municipal hubs and were created in smaller, simpler styles. The frigidarium was extended and renovated into a multipurpose bathing and relaxing space.
Baths and the need to create wide, open spaces with high ceilings prompted the development of the architectural dome. The introduction of concrete in the form of firm mortared rubble enabled unsupported walls to be built further apart, as did hollow brick barrel vaults supported by buttress arches and the use of iron tie bars. These aspects would be widely adopted in other public buildings, particularly huge structures such as basilicae. Even in current times, Roman baths continue to influence designers; for example, the Chicago Railroad Station and the Pennsylvania Station in New York are exact replicas of the enormous frigidarium of Caracalla’s Baths.
References:
- Siwicki, C. Ancient roman baths: An archeological explanation, Art & Object. Available at: https://www.artandobject.com/news/ancient-roman-baths-archeological-explanation.
- Cartwright, M. (2023) Roman Baths, World History Encyclopedia. Available at: https://www.worldhistory.org/Roman_Baths/
- Roman Baths: An integral part of life in the ancient empire (2024) TheCollector. Available at: https://www.thecollector.com/roman-baths-an-integral-part-of-life-in-the-ancient-empire/.
- Solutions, S.B. (no date) Roman Baths, Q. Available at: https://www.q-files.com/history/romans/roman-baths.
