The busiest time to visit would have been in the afternoon, as the typical Roman workday lasted from sunrise to noon. After arrival, the first stage of the bathhouse experience was exercise in open courtyards called palaestrae.The Romans believed that it was best to work up a light sweat before using the bathhouses and that exercise was beneficial for health – and they weren’t too far off either! Next, a Roman would change and leave their belongings in an apodyterium. Theft was an unfortunately common occurrence, and one of the ways that a Roman could appeal for retribution was writing on a tablet and offering it up to the gods. One bath tablet read, “Solinus to the Goddess Sulis Minerva. I give to your divinity and majesty [my] bathing tunic and cloak. Do not allow sleep or health to him who has done me wrong, whether man or woman, whether slave or free, unless he reveals himself and brings goods to your temple.”
"To the ancient Romans, the bathhouse was far more than a place for washing."
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Bathtub found in Pylos, 1300 BC
Summer 2021· Torch: U.S. · ANCIENT ROMAN BATHS
The ruins of Herculaneum have the Forum baths and the Suburban baths, which are two of the best preserved Roman baths in the world.