Thermae

As spas (plural, Latin thermae ) a bathhouse in the Roman Empire was called. According to a count by 400 AD there were in Rome alone eleven publicly accessible baths and 856 private baths.

• 4.1 design
• 4.2 Heating

Term

The term thermae - spas - for large public baths spread at the end of the 1st century AD The term comes from the Greek θερμὸν λουτρόν ( Thermon Loutron " warm bath ", from the Greek θερμός thermos " hot " ) and replaced or supplemented the older term balneum (Greek βαλανεῖον balaneion "Bad", latinized balineum, balneum, balnea ).

Overview

The Roman Baths evolved from different precursors, such as the Greek bath ( balaneion ) and local sweating cures. Since the mid-2nd century BC, the construction of public baths in Rome is known, and during the 1st century AD gained bathing in public baths of great importance as a social center of life and attached to the daily routine belonging ritual.

The thermal baths were places of communication and pastime: here they met, relaxed from the hustle and bustle of the city and the stress of the day. Baths provided numerous services, such as massage, gym exercises, manicure and beauty care. Were heated by the hot springs by the hypocaust, a located below the floor and in the walls of power cables for heated air. It was in the Roman cities many private spas that could be visited for a small fee, but most could not offer the luxury of the public baths. Public baths were far more splendid and more generous, so there were libraries, walkways, swimming pools and sports facilities. The most famous of all Roman baths, the Baths of Caracalla, the - named after the Roman Emperor - lined with luxuriant and magnificent marble slabs were and were the size of a palace. For women, there was often a private bathroom, sometimes separate swimming times in a communal bathing facilities.

History

First, supplied by the aqueducts, simple public bath houses after a Hellenistic model already existed around 400 BC The oldest known Roman bathing facility is a Sitzwannenbad in the Stabian Baths at Pompeii from the 3rd century BC hypocaust and bath series with a fixed spatial sequence are attested from the 2nd century BC.

These early baths were for a small fee (1/4 As) are used and offered no great luxury. Seneca described such a bath:

" The bath room is in the old style, small, cramped and dark: our old thought a bath would not warm, if it was not dark. "

Baths of Agrippa

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa built in Rome the first major bath complex, which in contrast to the hitherto conventional baths, of which there are already 170 in Rome alone was at this time, with spaces for rings and for other sports ( taken from the Greek gymnasium, cf. eg Samos), for conversation and was even equipped to lessons that were associated with the warm baths. The construction work lasted from 25 BC to 19 BC probably the Baths of Agrippa in the Campus Martius, were powered by a specially built aqueduct, the Aqua Virgo. Thus, the wasteful water consumption of the subsequent thermal baths had become possible for the first time. From the spas was a Euripus channel called the Tiber, the ( so near the present Ponte Sisto ) resulted in the pons Agrippae. The spa had first Badanlage in Rome a domed central building; the dome diameter of the rotunda was impressive 25.00 m. Your ruin, the Arco della Ciambella, located 100 meters south of the Pantheon in the same street. In his will, Agrippa allowed the free visit its thermal baths. The Cardinal Andrea della Valle was looking in the early 16th century in the ruins of the thermal baths for treasures. One case found Roman Iron Age crown gave the name for which only a few meters away, the Church of San Benedetto della Ciambella, from the Arco della Ciambella also has his name.

Show the literary and epigraphic sources, that the popularity of bathing with the Romans in the time between Cicero ( 106-43 BC) and Martial (ca. 40-104 AD) grew considerably. The question of the reasons for this growing popularity is difficult to answer because many factors may have played a role: on the one hand, led the growth of the population in Rome in the first century AD to an increased need for cleanliness and for ways to escape from poor living conditions. On the other hand, advocated medical theories bathing as healthy. This confirms the importance of this institution by the large number and magnificent facilities of the Roman bath house - be it private or public art

Imperial Baths

In imperial times, it perfected the Thermenbau. The individual rooms were now arranged symmetrically and beautifully equipped. Also shifted by now the importance of bathing the necessary body purification for work and sport a ceremonial of recovery, the so-called otium in which the exercise was only one aspect in addition to neat handling or pure idleness. The now established great imperial baths had next to sports fields and libraries and columnar -lined corridors with shops. About the Great Fire destroyed the Baths of Nero wrote Martial:

Trajan had 104-109 at the site of Nero's Domus Aurea next to the Subura by its architect Apollodorus of Damascus monumental spas with a floor area of about 340 × 300 m build. For the first time contained the Baths of Trajan next to open sports fields ( palaestra ) covered sports halls, called basilicas, arranged symmetrically on either side of the axis aligned in a proper bath rooms and were probably heated by the waste heat.

In the following centuries, the baths were continuously expanded and improved. The 212-216 was built Baths of Caracalla and the Baths of Diocletian (built 298-306 ) show today, at which monumentality anwuchsen the Roman bathing temple.

Private bathrooms

In addition to the balnea publica, public baths whose enormous operating costs for water, firewood and maintenance were financed solely by taxes or donations of the rich and did not cost entry into the tradition of Agrippa, it was the private balnea Meritoria, require their tenants a small entrance fee were allowed.

In the imperial villas the baths had their place, such as in the Villa Jovis of Tiberius. Even rich individuals contributed to bathhouses with different temperatures pool. From such a bath with different temperature-controlled rooms and pool as well as a ball game hall ( sphaeristerium ) provides Pliny the Younger in his letters vivid descriptions.

In the provinces

The importance of bathing as a part of the life of a Roman is also the basis of many baths that emerged in new provinces, clearly. Taking the northwestern provinces as an example, shows that soon after the conquest by the Romans almost everywhere arose spas. Were introduced this custom of bathing and associated buildings by the Romans, who did not want to do without long for this convenience and docked in their military camps spas or at least small balnea. Their rapid spread in the province, even in places that were not inhabited exclusively by Romans, but showing the speedy adoption of the custom by the local population. Thus the inhabitants of the province of Bithynia et Pontus by the use of the governor Pliny the Younger were very pleased with the construction of new bathrooms, as Pliny's correspondence with Trajan occupied.

Spas

The use of hot vapors, mineral and thermal waters for therapeutic purposes was common already in pre-Roman times, as Livy 's account of the ( unsuccessful ) spa stay the consul Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Hispallus 176 BC confirmed in Baiae. Often, these sources were associated with sanctuaries of Asclepius and medical facilities.

Aquae Sulis as spas in Britain, Pautalia in Thrace, Aquae in Baden -Württemberg and especially Baiae were similar to today's spas. So Martial mocked Kurschatten and unfaithful wives and Seneca complained about noise.

The normal thermal baths have been used for health care, since Asclepiades of Bithynia introduced the Balneology in Rome. Thus, the physician Rufus of Ephesus recommended by 100 steam baths or stay in laconium as a remedy for gout. Galen described in detail the sequence in which they should in which constitution and health status using the individual rooms and facilities.

Decay

With the migration of the disintegration of the Roman bathing culture began. The new residents of the former Roman provinces could not handle the complicated technique of water supply and heating and used the thermal springs as quarries. In Rome, the destruction of the aqueducts ended in the siege by the Goths 536, the heyday of the bathing culture after already had led to its decline the strict morality of Christianity. In the Byzantine Empire, however, the tradition remained, and was later continued by the Muslim conquerors.

Construction and bathing process

The spas have always had the same spatial sequence that already exists in the Hellenistic number of bathrooms:

In apodyterium, the locker room, undressed you and stowed his clothes in the inset in the wall, lockable niches, the loculi, or gave them to his slave or the Capsarius for storage. While naked sport driving in Greece and bathed, wore in Rome the women at least a kind bikini.

The temperature in individual rooms probably corresponded in the Turkish hammam, as well as the flow of the bathing procedure is described similarly.

First you have entered the caldarium, heated by the hypocaust and wall heaters, usually located to the south hot bath room with hot water basin. The soil temperature was able to easily exceed 50 ° C, which is why you wore clogs in the bathroom. In the caldarium were mostly apses, where were the hot at 40 ° C water -filled tub baths. While we enjoyed the view from the large windows, you could can be overwhelm by a slave with hot showers.

Then that followed also by a hypocaust heated tepidarium with mild heat. The tepidarium usually contained no pool. It isolated the heated rooms of the cold and so facilitated the adaptation.

Was then cooled in frigidarium, the cold bath, and jumped from there into the cold water basin. The frigidarium was the largest room of the Baths and therefore probably the main living room. In the Baths of Caracalla were located there in 1600 marble chair on which you could can be sitting douse with cold water. Here, even small pools were ( piscina ). Was purified with the strigilis and settled after the bath in aleipterion (Latin: unctuarium ) Lubricate and massage. Connected to the frigidarium was the palaestra, an athletic field, so you could take a dip equal in cold water after physical exercise. Large bathrooms offered in addition to a real swimming pool ( natatio ), some even covered.

But never in women's bathrooms - - Finally, there were some bathrooms have a laconicum or sudatorium, a sweat bath with dry heat without pool, which was heated by a wood-burning oven and therefore was much hotter than the caldarium. Luxury baths also contained snacks and shops, libraries and lecture halls and lobbies, Recliner and garden plants for mental distraction. At least in the spas and doctors had their practice rooms in adjoining rooms of the Baths. Latrines were almost always part of the thermal baths.

The visit of the great spas often lasted several hours, usually from the 9th hour, so depending on the season of the lunch or afternoon hours into the evening, and was considered an important part of everyday life. Seneca complained about the noise at the spa, which may have been similar to the present-day swimming and fun pools.

Method of construction

Vitruvius was in his work De Architectura detailed instructions for the construction of baths.

The walls consisted mostly of brick or mortar associated rubble. For the filling Opus caementitium was mainly used, which greatly increased the capacity of walls and vaults. Even a kind of lightweight concrete was already known. Thus, the moisture does not damage the wooden roof structure, suggested by Vitruvius planning to build the vault twice, so that the water vapor to escape in between. The lighting should fall from the top of the swimming pool.

The floors were often covered with mosaics, plastered the walls against the moisture and decorated with frescoes or - as the pool - covered with marble. Large windows and vaulted ceilings made ​​of glass or glass mosaics came up with light and heat.

For vaulting of the big interiors, dome technique have been of Roman builders since the Baths of Agrippa preferably employed. The thermal coupling among the largest in the Roman Empire.

Heating

The Romans used in their thermal baths both floor and wall heating with hot air ( hypocaust ). Both techniques were first developed and applied to the baths. The heated rooms could look very different depending on the size and type of bath. Common to them was that they were mostly oriented to the south to mitzunutzen the warmth of the sun. Thus, the heat of the floor heating spreads better, the bottom of Hypokaustums should have according to Vitruvius recommended a slight slope. The walls were often made ​​of hollow bricks, was also passed through the hot air.

In the Baths of Caracalla, the caldarium ( hot bath ) was circular and roofed by a large dome. The caldarium Baths of Trajan was flanked by vaulted subterranean passages that were often only 2 meters wide and 2.5 meters high, were lit by rectangular holes in the ceiling.

From such passages under the actual bathing rooms served slaves from the wall heating by numerous Schürklappen who were let into the base of the main walls of the building. The working conditions in these courses must have been terrible, since the smoke only gradually escaped through the ceiling holes. The heating chambers ( praefurnia ) were charged by the slaves regularly with charcoal. Later they preferred dry wood as possible. The hot air rose through the cavities to the top and heated floors and walls. The heating needed to be kept in operation day and night. Ventilation flaps in the roof, the temperature could be varied.

The heat of the Roman baths was almost always steam heat, with the exception of sometimes existing laconicum in which there was a dry heat. In this room there was, as in a sauna, much hotter than in the traditionally heated caldarium be, so the time spent was less here.