Baths of Caracalla
Page One about the Baths of Caracalla
When you went through the door, you got to the warm baths (the tepidarium). They weren't big enough for swimming, but were more like a soaking pool. (The metal fences weren't there in Roman times, but at that time there was a vaulted roof).
On your right, there were the hot baths (the caldarium). These were really hot, like a hot tub today. Slaves had to stay in the basement all the time, putting charcoal into big ovens to heat up the water.
And on the left were the cold baths (the frigidarium or natatorium). These were a big swimming pool, like the swimming pool at the YMCA today.
Of course the walls weren't all plain brick when the building was new! They were all covered with marble and stucco, and the swimming pool had mosaics of sea creatures on the bottom and was full of water. Caracalla built a special aqueduct to bring water into Rome for these baths.
To find out more about Roman baths, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your library:
The Romans: Bacillus and the Beastly Bath, by Ann Jungman (2002). For kids (basically British kids).
The Baths of Caracalla: A Study in the Design, Construction, and Economics of Large-Scale Building Projects in Imperial Rome, by Janet Delaine (1997). Another supplement to the well-regarded Journal of Roman Archaeology. By specialists, for specialists.
Bathing in Public in the Roman World, by Garrett Fagan (1999).
Baths and Bathing in Classical Antiquity, by Fikret Yegl (reprinted 1996).
Roman Baths and Bathing, edited by Janet Delaine and David Johnston (2000). Another supplement to the well-regarded Journal of Roman Archaeology. By specialists, for specialists.
The Architecture of the Roman Empire: An Introductory Study, by William MacDonald (1982). Actually not so introductory, but it's got great illustrations that really make the building techniques clear. Explains how bath buildings were built.
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