[Bathing in Public in the Roman World] [Author: Garrett G. Fagan] [May, 2002]

by Garrett G. Fagan

For the Roman, bathing was a social event. Public baths, in fact, were one of the few places where large numbers of Romans gathered daily in an informal context. This book is the first to study the Roman public bathing experience primarily as a historical, social, and cultural phenomenon rather than a technological or architectural one. The focus here is on the bathers not the baths. Fagan reconstructs what a trip to a Roman bath was like, and he asks when and why the baths became popular at Rome, who built and maintained the abundant bathing establishments, what the physical environment was like, what the social components of the bathing experience were, and what the sociological function of the baths was in the Roman empire's rigidly hierarchical social order. Since comparative evidence from other bathing cultures is also employed, it will be of interest to social anthropologists and historical sociologists.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History

Paperback

First published May 1, 1999

Reviews

[Alexander Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book primarily to learn what the experience of going to a bath house would have been like. This information was covered in the book, but not with as much detail as I would have liked. Much of this book is simply an epigraphic sample, so most of the book is concerned with why individual patrons chose to build a bath house.

[Drianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

balnea, vīna, Venus corrumpunt corpora nostra--
     sed vītam faciunt balnea, vīna, Venus!

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK, I just skimmed it. It was rather detailed, and if I had the inclination, I would have read it more thoroughly. It has been on my pencilled to-read list since about 1999, so I more or less HAD to get through it.

Looked good, if one wanted to read a well-researched cover of the topic.