How common were private bathing facilities in Late Republican Rome?
score:12
This is really more of an extended comment - my impression is that it is believed to be standard for wealthier Romans to have had some kind of bathing facility at home, but specific references or details are hard to come by.
Probably every large home had some kind of private bath, which over time became more luxurious as attested in archaeological finds.
Ermatinger, James W. The World of Ancient Rome: A Daily Life Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, 2015.
Note that the Romans did not acquire the habit for communal bathing until towards the end of the Republic. In earlier times, therefore, Romans either bathed in the Tiber or in crude facilities at home. For those who had it, the room for these purposes were known as the lavatrina, or washroom, and usually placed near the kitchen. Of course, this was nowhere near being universal - poorer Romans may not even have had a kitchen in their homes.
A bath or bathing- vessel, such as most persons of any consequence aiuoug the Romans possessed in their own houses . . . Thus we learn from Seneca that the ancient Romans washed their legs and arms daily and bathed their whole body once a week. The room set apart from this purpose was called lavatrina or latrina, and was placed near the kitchen, so that warm water might be easily procured.
Peck, Harry Thurston, ed. Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Aantiquities. Harper, 1897.
Later writers, such as Varro or Seneca, contrasted the plainness of such rooms to the later opulence of imperial-era baths. In any case, it seems that starting from the 3rd century BC or so more luxurious bathing rooms known as balneum, began to replace the old washrooms. While still not as decadent as Imperial baths, by the end of the Republic,
[B]y the end of the Republic, as Hales and Dyson show us, private bath suites were a normal part of every aristocratic house.
Evans, Jane DeRose, ed. A Companion to the Archaeology of the Roman Republic. John Wiley & Sons, 2013.
I don't have access to the original texts so I'm unable to cite the specific evidence for the assertion. Do note by the Imperial period, everyone from slaves to Emperors used Rome's public baths, so the idea that rich people wouldn't be "pleased to encounter them at the baths" is probably not correct.
More post
- 📝 How did religions interpret rainbows before science explained it?
- 📝 Why did people die for their religion in the 400s CE (or even now)?
- 📝 What is the history of the legality of polygamy in Arab states?
- 📝 How did the European and international left react to the Cafe War?
- 📝 What are examples of official documents or speeches composed in verse?
- 📝 When became turks finns?
- 📝 When Napoleonic wars happened?
- 📝 Can anyone help identify the country, rank, and unit this WWI uniform is from?
- 📝 Did Julius Caesar reduce the number of slaves?
- 📝 How were ship kills accounted in WWII?
- 📝 What post-photographic 19th US century dark skirted stripe embroidered jacket, hard brim and top forage cap, light trousers, sword uniform is this?
- 📝 Did any plantation/hacienda/fazenda owner free all his slaves?
- 📝 Why was Axis intelligence so poor in relation to Operation Uranus?
- 📝 What were Lord Macartney's original words about Chinese under the Qianlong Emperor's brutal regime in 18th century?
- 📝 What is the difference between "seigneurie" and "manor"?
- 📝 Disqualifications in the ancient olympics
- 📝 Was Cossack cavalry ineffective relative to other troops?
- 📝 During the Sengoku-jidai, what were shinobi (aka ninja) used for?
- 📝 Were bricks instead of bombs occasionally thrown out of war planes in WWI?
- 📝 Why didn't the Pakistani military try to gain Kashmir from India in 1971 instead of launching an offensive in Rajesthan?
- 📝 Did B-17 crews run into difficulty releasing their bombs and does data exist on this?
- 📝 Why were Soviets so extremely effective snipers in WW2?
- 📝 What is this document marked "Palestine Bearer Bond"?
- 📝 What is the oldest regulation in the world regarding a head of state?
- 📝 Did the dramatic improvement in survival rates of scurvy in the Royal Navy significantly affect British port cities?
- 📝 Did James Monroe and James Madison ever disagree?
- 📝 What are these 2 compartments next to these war chariots?
- 📝 Did ancient people regularly suffer from colds?
- 📝 Did the Soviets lack ball bearings in WWII?
- 📝 Why was metal armor phased out after gun powder was weaponized?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How common were private bathing facilities in Late Republican Rome?
- 📝 How literate were common people in Medieval Europe?
- 📝 How common were marital duels in medieval Europe?
- 📝 Were bookshops 'common' in the late 19th century, and how did they differ from modern ones?
- 📝 For how long were freed slaves in Ancient Rome supposed to wear a Pileus hat?
- 📝 How common were horses at the beginning of the 20th century?
- 📝 How common was it for Americans to visit Europe in the late 19th century?
- 📝 How were maps drawn and printed in the late 19th-early 20th centuries?
- 📝 How were political factions in the late Roman republic different from political parties today?
- 📝 How common were professional musicians before the advent of recorded music?
- 📝 How did knights in full suits of armor eventually die in combat? What were the most common causes of death for soldiers in full-body plate armor?
- 📝 How common were foreigners in the Weimar republic?
- 📝 How were concussions treated in late 19th-century America?
- 📝 How common were fires in pre-Edo Japan?
- 📝 What kinds of documents were forged in the middle ages and how common was forgery?
- 📝 How important were social justice issues in dissident circles in the late USSR?
- 📝 How were years numbered on the Republican Calendar?
- 📝 How much smaller were medieval farm animals in England than today?
- 📝 Were Roman public roads built by private companies?
- 📝 How were tanks scrapped after World War Two?
- 📝 How were smallpox vaccines enforced in the US?
- 📝 How were concentration and extermination camp guards recruited?
- 📝 How severe were the casualties in ancient/medieval battles?
- 📝 How were drawbridges and portcullises used tactically?
- 📝 How kind were the Muslim occupations of North Africa?
- 📝 How were medieval castles built in swamps or marshes without draining them?
- 📝 How were horses disembarked from sail ships?
- 📝 How were Martello towers supposed to work?
- 📝 How were the cities of Milan and Bruges spared by the Black Death?
- 📝 How beneficial were war bonds to the US during WWII