Page 19 - All About History - Issue 72-18
P. 19
Moving indoors Feel the heat
Thefirstroomofthethermaeproperwasthetepidarium,in Abather’ssecondroomwouldbethecaldarium,whichwasthe
whichbatherswouldbeanointedwithoilandenjoythewarm hottestroominthebuilding.Heretheywouldworkupasweat,
temperature.Theoil,alongwithanydirt,wouldthenbescrapedoff like in a sauna, before sinking themselves into a warm pool of
theskinusingacurvedstrigil.Thiswasalsowhenyoucouldreceive water about two metres wide, three metres long and one metre
amassagefromahiredslaveorevenhaveyourhairplucked,as deep–largeenoughformorethanonepersonsoyoucouldhave
hairless bodies were fashionable for much of the Roman Empire. achat,butnotbigenoughtoswimin.
Keeping the heat
To create the warm air to heat the
building, boilers were installed.
However,duetothelackof
electricity, these were fired by
slaves, who shovelled charcoal,
brushwoodand,inBritain,coalto
keep the furnaces roaring.
Ancient central heating
To keep the warm rooms warm,
the Romans devised an ingenious
method:thehypocaust.Smallpillars
oftilessatunderthefloor,allowing
hot gases to move between them
toheatthefloorsofentirerooms.
The hot air would then rise through
pipes in the walls so that the warmth
was all around the room instead of
just coming up through the floor.
Do your business
Whenyouneedtogo,youneedtogo.Latrineswouldalso
bebuiltinaRomanbathhouse–thereasonwhyisreallyjust
common sense, especially with theconstantsoundsofsloshing
water. However, Roman toilets were nothing luxurious. A
benchofmarblewithholesincoveredapitwheretheRomans
woulddotheirbusiness,beforewipingthemselveswitha
pieceofnaturalspongeonastick.Thiswouldthenbeputina
bucketofwaterorvinegar,readyforthenextpersontouse. © Adrian Mann
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