Roman Baths and Aqueducts

1. Roman Baths and Aqueducts

2. Roman Baths • One of the most important leisure activities. • Daily part of lives for men and women-no mixed bathing. • Communal activity. • Like a modern day spa or health club. • Also held sports and recreation. • Public and private baths existed. • Small fee to use them was needed (women paid a higher fee). • Workday was from sunrise to 2pm.

3. Carnine, Douglas and et al. World History. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2009.

4. How the baths worked • Had a foundation of pillars. • Furnace was underneath the bath. • Hot air flowed around the pillars and heated the rooms and water. • Latrines: marble seats over a channel of water which had a continuous flow (like a modern toliet).

5. Routine • Person would have dirt scraped off. • Then they would move from room to a warmer room. • Would finish in a cold room. • Then would dry off in a steam room. • After a bath, a person would visit the garden, library or watch a performance at the bath house.

6. Roman Aqueducts • Aqueduct: artificial channel that carried fresh water from springs, streams, and lakes into Roman towns. • Traveled through channels and pipes. • Most were underground though some were supported by high arch bridges. • Rome had 10 great aqueducts running 260 miles. • Brought 1,000 litres a day for each person in Rome (about a million people).

7. Aqueducts continued • Most of the water brought in was for the public baths. • Also the technology helped to build indoor plumbing and a sewer system.

8. Urban Problems • Overcrowded and noisy • Sanitation problems • Disease and pollution • Little to eat for most Romans • Huge difference between rich and poor. Poor had difficulty finding jobs. • Poor people had homes with small rooms and no running water or toilets. Trash was dropped out the window. • Fire was common