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 adopted by Seneca to designate the bathroom of Scipio, in the villa at Liternum, and is expressly used to characterize the modesty of republican manners as compared with the luxury of his own times. But when the baths of private individuals became more sumptuous, and comprised many rooms, instead of the one small chamber described by Seneca, the plural "balnea" or "balinea" was adopted, which still, in correct language, had reference only to the baths of private persons. Thus Cicero terms the baths at the villa of his brother Quintus "balnearia". "Balneae" and "balineae", which according to Varro have no