bathing

Even though it may seem like the Roman baths were used primarily for bathing, it was used for so much more. The Ancient Roman Baths, also referred to as thermae, were made for relaxation and socializing. People would go there to see friends, meet for business, exercise, and of course, go in the baths. These bath houses grew popular in 33 B.C. and became a part of daily life in Rome.

There were three rooms for bathing: the cold, warm and hot rooms. The hotter the water, the closer to the sacred spring they were. The general flow when entering a bathhouse was exercising and then moving to the warm, hot, and cold baths. There were also rooms that were similar to saunas because Roman citizens discovered that they could sweat to unclog their pores and clear skin in the baths. In order to keep the baths heated, hypocausts were used. They were kept heated by slaves shoveling coal into the fire which kept the floors heated. The water entering the baths came from the mountains using aqueducts and strategically placed tunnels. Roman baths were public to all, only requiring a small fee and some days of the year were even free! Although, many wealthy Roman citizens decided to have private baths made in their home and would invite friends and family. Roman baths were important in their society and was thought to be good for their well being.

For our project we decided to use our knowledge of the ancient bath houses to make a brochure for modern baths. We designed and made a map of the baths to show rooms that we kept the same and then some rooms that we added. In the brochure, you can also see the differences between the ancient baths and our modern baths. We include the architectural designs that remain the same from ancient to modern day baths. Because the Roman baths were heated using slaves and an ancient technique, it obviously needed to be updated. We heat our rooms using a hydronic radiant floor heating system. This heats the room from the floors up so that in every room there is a consistent and specific temperature. Take a look at our brochure that explains and shows our modern bath house!

Our project!