Evidence suggests that bathing became much more popular within Rome during the first century BC, when far greater numbers of Romans began bathing in public with more frequency. These numbers again drastically increased during the first century AD. A passage within Varro states that when baths were originally introduced within the city of Rome there were separate sections for men and women, which is hinted at archaeologically within Republican baths, which often feature an architectural division. In a passage of Cicero, detailing a particularly heated exchange between L. Licinius Crassus and M. Junius Brutus, it is brought to light that it was considered improper at the time for father and son to bathe together. However, the passage also indicates that, although the senators were not building baths at the time, they were still frequenting the private bath houses.