There are three kinds of baths in Rome: hot springs, private baths and public baths. For most ordinary Romans, they can only visit public baths. During the imperial period, the Romans regarded the construction of public baths as an equally important event as the construction of stadiums and libraries. According to calculations, in the 4th century AD, there were more than 1 000 public baths in Rome, including 1 1 extra large baths, such as Caracalla Bath, which could accommodate 1 000 people at a time.
There are two most important public baths in Rome: one is Caracalla Bath and the other is Diocletian Bath, both of which are named after the emperor. Both baths are huge. Diocletian Bath can accommodate 3,000 people at the same time, and Karakara Bath can accommodate nearly 2,000 people at the same time. As part of Diocletian Bath has been converted into a Catholic church and a monastery, and some have been converted into a museum, if you want to see a more complete bath, you can only go to Karakala Bath.
Caracalla baths are extremely luxurious. It is located in the south of the center of Rome. It was built in 2 12 and completed in 2 16, with a total area of 4 12×383 meters, which is equivalent to a small town. It is also difficult for modern standard swimming venues to reach their huge scale. The ancient Romans were never careless in their construction, especially in large-scale municipal projects, at the expense of work. The windows on all sides are wide and bright, ensuring that the sun can shine in at any time during the day. The floor and walls of the whole bath are paved with precious colored marble from different parts of the Roman Empire, and these marble walls are decorated with exquisite patterns, colors and paintings. There is a statue above every corner of the bathtub.
Roman public baths are mostly divided into hot air baths, hot water baths, warm air baths, warm water baths, cold air baths and cold water baths. Swimming pools are usually located in warm water to cold water areas. You can visit along the route that ancient people walked. Turn right from the front hall is a square hall, which is the dressing room. Then there are two large colonnades, that is, gymnasiums, where people exercise first and then take a bath; Further on, you can reach the steam bathroom (plan L), the spectacular hot water bathroom (plan C) and the warm water bathroom named "hamam". The hot-water bathroom is the largest of all bathrooms, with a length of 55.8m, a width of 24. 1 m and a vault height of 38. 1 m (the length of Diocletian is 6 1 m, the span is 24.4m and the height is 27.5m). The warm bathroom is a small rectangular room with two bathtubs. Then there is the huge central hall, the cold water bathroom (plan F), and the outdoor swimming pool (plan N) next to it. The facade is beautiful, and there is a cylindrical dragon on the wall, which is used to place statues and sculptures.
This bathing place was used for about 300 years until the Goths invaded and destroyed the waterway in 537. According to historical records, the floors and baths here are all made of colored marble and glass mosaic, so you can imagine the grand occasion of the glorious period. The typical Roman bath is time-consuming and complicated, first of all, the Turkish steam bath. The steam bath is carried out in a high-temperature steam room filled with high temperature and high humidity. They advanced the warm bath room, fully opened the pores and removed the dirt on their bodies; Then enter the large social center of the "cold water room" to cool the skin and shrink pores; Finally, jump into the open-air swimming pool for the final cleaning. Rich people will like to use scented wool cloth for wiping and massage.
Public bathrooms are usually open in the morning, but there are not many customers and the tickets are low. Afternoon is prime time, most people will stay until dinner time, and necessary food supply is indispensable. Therefore, there are restaurants and bars in public bathrooms. Waiters in restaurants and bars attract people's attention with different jingles or knocks, and vendors selling drinks, sausages and cakes are very lively! It's a bathhouse, not an entertainment and leisure center!
Among the various functions of public bathrooms in Rome, the most interesting one is the beauty service it provides. Many Romans are very unfriendly to their armpit hair and always want to pull it out. Because the technology was not developed at that time, every time the beautician pulled out one, it would cause a scream of pain. To the beautician's surprise, the screams attracted many customers. So they had a whim and simply turned it into a trick to attract business. Whenever there are no customers at hand, they will make a hullabaloo about to let people know their business identity or give people the illusion of "prosperous business".
The builder of Bath in caracalla was also a notorious and bloodthirsty tyrant caracalla (A.D. 188-2 17), the eldest son of Severus, the emperor of the Roman Empire, whose real name was Andunonu, and caracalla was his nickname. In order to win the hearts of the people, caracalla promulgated the "Imperial Decree" in 2 1 1. The content is to expand the number of all citizens in the Roman empire, and everyone in the empire can obtain Roman citizenship, regardless of the Senate, liberated slaves and gladiators. He built the famous "caracalla Grand Bath" for Roman citizens to enjoy without a government budget. During caracalla's period, there were mixed baths for men and women, which inevitably caused some deviant behaviors and was repeatedly prohibited. Especially in the late empire, ascetic Christianity rose in Rome, and they could not tolerate the erosion in the bath. Finally, in 320, the episcopal conference of Laudis banned women from going to public bathrooms, and the episcopal conference of St. John's Crystal finally banned all bathrooms at the end of the fourth century. In 537 A.D., the caracalla Grand Bathroom was stopped because of the damage of the water supply pipeline, and was gradually abandoned.