Water and Sanitation

Bath complexes in Pompeii (6)

• Stabian, Forum, Suburban, Central and Sarnus baths

  • Baths of Cassus Frugi remain undiscovered

• Private baths in wealthy estates such as those of Julia Felix

Bath complexes in Herculaneum (3)

• Suburban, central and south-western baths

Rooms in the baths (4)

• Apodyterium — change room

  • First room, get changed, store clothes in niches in walls

  • Theft was a problem —> slaves of the wealthy stayed next to clothes while master bathed or accompanied master with strigil and oil around the complex (back scratcher)

• Tepidarium — warm

  • Warm bath

  • Rather than soap, covered bodies with olive oil

  • Scraped off using strigil (curved metal tool) to remove sweat/dirt

• Caladarium — hot

  • Hottest room

  • Pool or laconicum/sauna to induce sweating

  • Wooden clogs often worn to prevent burnt feet

• Frigidarium — cold

  • Cool room

  • Pool of refreshing cold water

When were the baths open?

• Discovery of over 1000 oil lamps in the Forum Baths at Pompeii indicate bath complexes were used during the evening or prior to sunrise

How the bath complexes operated

• Heating = Hypocaust system —> Wood-fired furnace burned outside the building which circulated hot air under the floors and up into the walls of the baths heating the water and rooms

  • Hottest rooms closest to the furnace

• Pilae stacks = stacked bricks elevated and supported floor to allow steam to travel beneath the floors and into the hollow walls

• Ceilings = domed with grooves channelling droplets formed by steamy conditions towards walls preventing condensation from dripping onto patrons (e.g Forum Baths in Pompeii)

Seneca’s account of living next to a bathhouse in Rome

• Letter to Lucilius

• “surrounded by all kinds of noise…grunts of musclemen exercising” with heavy weights

• Massages, playing ball, singing in the baths, sellers of pastries and drinks —> opportunity for business encounters

Water system

• Came from the Appenine mountains into an aqueduct (Aqua Augusta)

  • Pompeii

    • Flowed from Aqua Augusta to a large castellum aquae (water tower)

    • Via gravity, travelled to smaller castellum aquae

    • Fed to 3 main lead pipes to be distributed around the city

  • Herculaneum

    • From Aqua Augusta to two water towers

    • Fed by lead pipes to fountains, baths, businesses, private homes

Public fountains

• No fewer than 42 found in P

  • Most homes within 50m of a water fountain

• 3 Found in H

Sanitation

• No partition walls between toilets

• Small channel of water in front of toilets for cleaning one’s tersorium (sponge on a stick)

• If no channel of water, dipped in bucket of salt water or vinegar

• Located in Forum and Palaestra (P)

• No public toilets found in H

• Many private toilets found —> generally located near kitchens/culina as they shared a main water source

  • Less wealthy had cesspits beneath the toilet to be emptied by hand