Thermae thieves and pickpockets were known to frequent the baths. The changing room was known as the "apodyterium" (from Greek "apodyterion" from "apoduein" "to take off"). In many ways, baths were the ancient Roman equivalent of community centres. Because the bathing process took so long, conversation was necessary. Many Romans would use the baths as a place to invite their friends to dinner parties, and many politicians would go to the baths to convince fellow Romans to join their causes. The thermae had many attributes in addition to the baths. There were libraries, rooms for poetry readings, and places to buy
Ancient Roman architecture military engineering. By late antiquity, separate stair towers were constructed adjacent to the main buildings, as in the Basilica of San Vitale. The construction of spiral stairs passed on both to Christian and Islamic architecture. Ancient Roman architecture Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans , but differed from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often considered one body of classical architecture. Roman architecture flourished in the Roman Republic and even more so under the Empire, when the great majority of surviving buildings were