19.04.24: bath time!

The names of sections of the Roman baths are derived from the adjectives caldus, tepidus and frīgidus. Upon entering the baths, the Romans would store their clothes in the apodytērium and then move through a sequence of rooms.

[1] caldārium, -ī [2/n]: from caldus, -a, -um, the caldarium was a room with hot water supplied, and with a hypocaust, an underfloor heating system.

[2] tepidārium, -ī [2/n]: From tepidus, -a, -um, this was the warm bathroom between the hot caldarium and the cold frigidarium with a lukewarm bath of water (labrum) lessening the shock of moving from one extreme temperature to the other.

[3] frīgidārium, -ī [2/n]: from frīgidus, -a, -um, the frigidarium contained a large pool of cold water for cooling off after the heat of the caldarium and tepidarium.

Image #1: Apodytērium (from Ancient Greek"undressing room") was the main entry into the thermae (public baths), and comprised a large changing room with cubicles or shelves where where clothing and other belongings could be stored while bathing.

The image shows the apodyterium of the women’s changing room at Herculaneum. Note the shelving used for storing clothes and belongings.

Image #2: caldārium; from the Roman baths at Bath, England. The floor was removed to show the hypocaust system beneath

Image #3: bronze brazier and bench where bathers would have sat to perspire; south end of the tepidarium, Pompeii

Image #4: tepidārium of the men’s baths, Pompeii

Image #5: frīgidārium, Pompeii

Image #6: frīgidārium, Bath, England

Image #7: strigilis, -is [3/f]: strigil; part of the bathing routine in ancient Rome involved cleaning the body with oil. Having rubbed the oil in, a strigil was used to scrape away any excess as well as any dead skin and dirt. The image is an example from the 1st century CE.