The Roman baths have gotten quite a reputation in the intervening centuries since they were the hot place to be during the Republic. While the activities that undoubtedly took place inside these great bath halls may be replayed in modern circumstances, there is a connection between contemporary society and the societal value of the Roman baths that most people are not familiar. The Roman baths were the ancient equivalent of today’s gyms, fitness centers and spas. You can’t work yourself into a physical state of exhaustion without the need to relieve the multiple effects of such a state, and the Romans were just as concerned with the aftereffects of physical exercise as anyone living in Los Angeles or New York today. Both societies also used state-of-the-art plumbing to create an atmosphere where both platonic and romantic entanglements could begin after the workout.
Today’s nautilus machines and Jazzercise are reflected in the ancient Roman practices of wrestling, weightlifting, fencing and games. Roman women were highly athletic as well, preferring to play a game called trochus, which involved a stick and metal hoop. These athletic pursuits could work up quite a sweat, as well as leave the body subject to myriad pains in the joints and muscles that those who ride bikes and play racquetball feel today. The Romans were the leaders in the engineering of plumbing technology, and their baths were the apotheosis of this knowledge. Those designs gave birth to the mud baths, saunas and showers of today where tall tales of conquests can be swapped as easily as flirtatious compliments.
There was a regular procedure that was followed by the Romans when it came to relaxation after exercise. The first step involved entry into what was known as the tepidarium. Tepid water was the preferred method for coming down from a high intensity round of wrestling or weightlifting. After the tepidarium, came the caldarium, which is the equivalent of a massage room at a spa or gym today. The application of oils would take place in this part of the Roman bath house as, unlike in today’s workout centers, soap was not readily available. Any visitor to a top-notch spa would recognize certain elements of the caldarium section of the Roman bathhouse, however, once the oils were applied. Of course, there is at least one huge difference that time cannot erase; the oils in the Roman spas were applied by slaves.
Once the oil treatment was completed, the ancient Roman made his way into yet another area of the bathhouse called the frigidarium. Today’s spas, gyms and fitness centers tend to bypass this element of the Roman baths, perhaps because the efficiency of modern plumbing has come so far. The frigidarium was exactly what it sounds like: a dip into cold water. The evolution of plumbing technology has certainly come a long way since even the admittedly progressive era of the knowledge of Roman engineers. Those pools in the frigidarium of Roman baths have more in common with the exterior ideals associated with members of the Polar Bear Clubs, those thoroughly insane individuals who would rather dive nearly naked into the frigid waters outdoors during the coldest days of winter rather than recognize that modern plumbing has eliminated the necessity for such an activity.
The more things change, the more they stay the same, as the saying goes. One thing is for sure. The desire for members of society to engage in rugged physical activity followed by the use of plumbing to facilitate both relaxation and the extension of social relationships is hardly a modern invention.
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