Ancient Roman bathing And it was said that 'Wine, women, warmth, to life destruction give, But it is by wine, women, warmth that we live' The objections of the philosopher Seneca were instead about the associated noise that interrupted his work when he resided above a bath. Ancient Roman bathing Bathing played a major part in ancient Roman culture and society. It was one of the most common daily activities in Roman culture, and was practiced across a wide variety of social classes. Though many contemporary cultures see bathing as a very private activity conducted in the home, bathing in Rome was a
Thermae to heat the piped water from a furnace ("praefurnium"). A number of Roman public baths survive, either as ruins or in varying degrees of conservation. Among the more notable are the Roman baths of Bath and the Ravenglass Roman Bath House in England as well as the Baths of Caracalla, of Diocletian, of Titus, of Trajan in Rome and the baths of Sofia, Serdica and Varna. Probably the most complete are various public and private baths in Pompeii and nearby sites. Thermae In ancient Rome, thermae (from Greek θερμός "thermos", "hot") and balneae (from Greek βαλανεῖον "balaneion") were facilities for