Public Baths and Bathing Habits in Late Antiquity
A Study of the Evidence from Italy, North Africa and Palestine A.D. 285-700
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In this book Sadi Maréchal examines the survival, transformation and eventual decline of Roman public baths and bathing habits in Italy, North Africa and Palestine during Late Antiquity. Through the analysis of archaeological remains, ancient literature, inscriptions and papyri, the continued importance of bathhouses as social hubs within the urban fabric is demonstrated, thus radically altering common misconceptions of their decline through the rise of Christianity and elite seclusion. Persistent ideas about health and hygiene, as well as perpetuating ideas of civic self-esteem, drove people to build, restore and praise these focal points of daily life when other classical buildings were left to crumble.
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Sadi Maréchal, Ph.D. (2016), Ghent University, is post-doctoral researcher in Roman archaeology of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO). He has published articles and book chapters on baths and bathing habits in the Roman Empire.
"This book will be a welcome reference resource to scholars interested in the intersection between society and the urban built environment in the Late Antique Roman world. [...] This is a work of reference which interested academics will find to be a welcome resource for understanding Late Antique built environments. Maréchal pays strict attention to space and time and casts a very wide net for the types of data catalogued in this volume. The eight urban case studies in particular offer a comprehensive view of Late Antique cities as spaces that constantly changed alongside the needs of their residents. Maréchal keeps his readers cognizant that this study covers well-trodden ground—indeed the introduction even opens with the question ‘Why Baths Again?’—but the study’s strengths lie in the meticulous manner in which the data has been collected. By assembling data from hundreds of archaeological reports, standardizing representations of their plans, supplementing them with maps and colour photographs, and summarizing their findings in English, this volume significantly increases accessibility for non-specialist scholars to all manner of evidence for one of the most defining features of life in Late Antique cities". Douglas Whalin, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, June 2021.
Foreword
List of Illustrations
Abbreviations
Introduction
Why Baths Again?
General Aims and Outline of the Research
Geographical Framework
Chronological Framework
Methodology and Sources
The Structure of the Book
Notes on Terminology
Notes on Abbreviations
1 General Introduction to Roman Baths and Earlier Research on Late Antique Baths
General Introduction to Roman Baths and Bathing Habits
Technology of the Baths
The Functioning of the Heating System
Water Management of Baths
Decoration
Popularity of Bathhouses
Earlier Research on Late Antique Baths
2 Written Evidence of Baths
Late Antique Literature
Legal Documents
Epigraphic Evidence
Papyrological Evidence
3 Archaeological Evidence
Introduction
Rome
Ostia
Cuicul
Thamugadi
Carthage
Sufetula
Ptolemais
Scythopolis
Archaeological Evidence of Early Hammams
4 Continuity and Change in Late Antique Public Baths and Bathing Habits
Architecture
Bath Technology
Public Baths and Their Contexts
Decay or Continuity of Baths and Bathing Habits
Epilogue—The Transition to the Hammams
General Concluding Remarks and Prospects for Future Research
Appendix 1: Late Antique Inscriptions Mentioning Baths
Introduction
Inscriptions from the Italian Peninsula
Inscriptions from North Africa
Inscriptions from Palestina
Appendix 2: Late Antique Papyri Mentioning Baths
Appendix 3: Lists of Late Antique Baths, Possible Baths and Continued Use of Baths
Glossary
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Modern Sources
Gazetteer
Introduction
Key to the General Plans
Baths in the Italian Peninsula, Sicily and Sardinia
Baths in Roman North Africa
New Construction
Baths in Cyrenaica
Baths in Egypt
Ecclesiastical Baths
Fortress Baths
Baths in Palestina
Index
Late Antique Archaeology
List of Illustrations
Abbreviations
Introduction
Why Baths Again?
General Aims and Outline of the Research
Geographical Framework
Chronological Framework
Methodology and Sources
The Structure of the Book
Notes on Terminology
Notes on Abbreviations
1 General Introduction to Roman Baths and Earlier Research on Late Antique Baths
General Introduction to Roman Baths and Bathing Habits
Technology of the Baths
The Functioning of the Heating System
Water Management of Baths
Decoration
Popularity of Bathhouses
Earlier Research on Late Antique Baths
2 Written Evidence of Baths
Late Antique Literature
Legal Documents
Epigraphic Evidence
Papyrological Evidence
3 Archaeological Evidence
Introduction
Rome
Ostia
Cuicul
Thamugadi
Carthage
Sufetula
Ptolemais
Scythopolis
Archaeological Evidence of Early Hammams
4 Continuity and Change in Late Antique Public Baths and Bathing Habits
Architecture
Bath Technology
Public Baths and Their Contexts
Decay or Continuity of Baths and Bathing Habits
Epilogue—The Transition to the Hammams
General Concluding Remarks and Prospects for Future Research
Appendix 1: Late Antique Inscriptions Mentioning Baths
Introduction
Inscriptions from the Italian Peninsula
Inscriptions from North Africa
Inscriptions from Palestina
Appendix 2: Late Antique Papyri Mentioning Baths
Appendix 3: Lists of Late Antique Baths, Possible Baths and Continued Use of Baths
Glossary
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Modern Sources
Gazetteer
Introduction
Key to the General Plans
Baths in the Italian Peninsula, Sicily and Sardinia
Baths in Roman North Africa
New Construction
Baths in Cyrenaica
Baths in Egypt
Ecclesiastical Baths
Fortress Baths
Baths in Palestina
Index
Late Antique Archaeology
Anyone interested in the archaeology and history of public baths and bathing habits, in particular scholars and students concerned with urban transformations and societal changes during Late Antiquity.