Bathrooms through the ages part 3 – The Romans

Part three of our Bathrooms through the ages focuses on the Romans and their bathroom habits. The Romans were sophisticated builders and architects who built an array of underground sewers and pipework to service their public lavatories and baths; they even had a goddess of the sewers called Cloacina.

While only the wealthy had toilets in their homes, the majority of Romans used one of the many public lavatories spread throughout the land; these communal toilets had no privacy and consisted of a long stone or marble seat with holes cut into it with no partitions at all. Public lavatories had their own plumbing and sewer systems which were flushed with water from the bath houses. Toilet paper did not exist in Roman times, instead people would use a sponge on a stick called a spongia.

Bathing in Raman times was also a communal activity. It was only the extremely wealthy that could afford a bath in their home, so most people used public facilities called thermae. Most Roman cities had at least one thermae which were used for socialising as well as bathing. These buildings were supplied with water from a river or stream, or more commonly from an aqueduct. The water would be heated by a log fire and channelled to the hot bathing rooms via an intricate array of pipes.

Most public baths would include an outdoor gymnasium called a palaestra where men would engage in various activities and exercises including weight lifting, wrestling and discus throwing. Because soap was still an expensive commodity and not widely available, Roman men would cover themselves in oil, shower or bathe and remove the excess oil with a small curved metal tool called a strigil.

Cosmetics were first used in Ancient Roman times for ritual purposes, but soon became a part of daily lives for women. Fashionable cosmetics were imported from as far away as China and were very expensive and only affordable by the wealthy, this spawned an array of cheap knock-offs that were sold to poorer women.

Although poorer women could afford cosmetics they would have rarely worn them as they were time consuming to apply and would have needed constant reapplying due to the weather conditions and poor composition of the products.

Hair dying was popular among women, who would a range of natural ingredients to colour the hair. Animal fats and beechwood ashes were used to dye the hair red, whereas saffron was used to dye the hair gold.

Although frowned upon by society, men also used cosmetics. Two of the more acceptable practices for men was the use of perfume and moderate hair removal. Removing too much hair was viewed as effeminate, while removing too little was viewed as being unrefined.

Mirrors in Ancient Roman times were mainly made from polished metals such as bronze or silver, but some were made with mercury placed behind a piece of glass.

The Colosseum in Rome is considered by many to be one of the greatest feats of Roman architecture and engineering. This elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city could hold between 50,000 and 80,000 people and was used for many events including gladiatorial contests, re-enactments of famous battles and public spectacles such as animal hunts and executions.

When the Colosseum ceased to be used for entertainment during the early medieval era, it was converted into housing and workshops. It has also been used as living quarters for a religious order, a fortress and a quarry throughout its existence.

So without further ado, here is part three of our Bathrooms through the Ages comic strip: