The Famous Baths of the Roman Empire

Roman Baths were designed for bathing and relaxing and were a common feature of cities throughout the Roman empire. Baths included a wide diversity of rooms with different temperatures, as well as swimming pools and places to read, relax, and socialise. Roman baths, with their large covered spaces, were important drivers in architectural innovation, notably in the use of domes.

Baths and the need to create large airy rooms with lofty ceilings brought the development of the architectural dome. The earliest surviving dome in Roman architecture is from the frigidarium of the Stabian Baths at Pompeii, which dates to the 2nd century BCE. The development of concrete in the form of stiff mortared rubble allowed unsupported walls to be built ever wider apart, as did hollow brick barrel vaults supported by buttress arches and the use of iron tie bars. These features would become widely used in other public buildings and especially in large constructions such as basilicae. Even in modern times Roman baths have continued to influence designers, for example, both the Chicago Railroad Station and the Pennsylvania Station in New York have perfectly copied the architecture of the great frigidarium of the Baths of Caracalla.

— SUPPORT US VIA OUR PATREON—

— BUY OUR MERCH —

— CHAPTERS —
0:00​ Introduction
0:56 The Roman Baths
4:42 Elements of Roman Bathing Complexes
6:10 Engineering and Architecture
8:45 Outro

— WANT TO KNOW MORE? —
Roman baths
The Roman Baths in Bath- A Deep Dive into Britain’s Ancient History
Roman Architecture
Roman Mosaics
Roman Daily Life

— WATCH NEXT —
Ancient Rome Playlist
Ten Fun Facts About Ancient Rome that you Need to Know!
The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire
Ancient Roman Society and Social Order

— ATTRIBUTIONS —

The music used in this recording is the intellectual copyright of Michael Levy, a prolific composer for the recreated lyres of antiquity, and used with the creator's permission. Michael Levy's music is available to stream at all the major digital music platforms. Find out more on:

World History Encyclopedia

#history #ancientrome #romanhistory #romanbaths

[WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Why do you think the Romans put so much effort into the public baths?

[markunpingco]

Great video, just a minor correction tho. Denarius are actually a silver denomination in which one coin is roughly equal to a skilled laborer’s daily pay. An as is more or less Rome’s lowest bronze denomination

[kevinjames]

Could the baths have been for health, relaxation, and maybe worship.

[smoothbeak]

Yes, but did they have rubber ducks???

[davidreid]

Thanks for that. I question your statement that a denarius was the smallest coin. In the Bible, a reliable contemporary source, one denarius was the standard daily wage for a worker. Ii I remember correctly, the smallest coin was called a Lepton. That also appears in the bible in the story of The Widow's Mite. I have one at home bought in Israel. The baths, as you rightly said, were very affordable & virtually everyone could afford to attend them. That doesn't fit with the entry price being a worker's daily wage.

[alexandernewman]

Making up for their bad consciences for persecuring the Followers of The Way - i, e, the early Christians not called thus in the beginning

[David-wnuy]

🤢hard pass on the communally polluted scuz water, thank you.😜