Greek baths

These baths have been found in Greece, Egypt, Italy, and there is even one located in Marseille, France.

The public baths had a gradual development into the flourishing, culturally-significant structures of the Hellenistic age.

Despite the variability dependent on each location and population, there are certain features that have come to define the Greek bath.

Public baths were not accepted immediately due to beliefs held by Greek society.

The baths were an amenity that provided comfort for its users, contrasting the discipline and masculine virtues expected by Greek men.

This slow acceptance resulted in a small number of public baths being built and used during the 5th and 4th centuries BCE.

In Greece they can be found in Olympia, Corinth, Athens, Delos, Epidauros, Messene, Nemea and several other sites.

Also first appearing in these locations was the separation of the building into two different zone: one for hygienic bathing and the other for relaxing and socializing (often in an immersion pool).

[2] The Greek baths made their way to Egypt and were built in strong numbers.

In Egypt, people bathed separately from each other, rather than in the immersion pools popular in Western Greece.

[4] As a whole, Greek baths were not homogenous, especially as they spread to different regions and societal values and construction methods shifted during the Hellenistic age.

[2] Due to the design of the hip baths, bathers could not fully submerge their bodies under water.

Greek baths had everything needed to offer a simple place for cleaning and the maintenance of the warm and wet spaces.

[2] Occasionally public baths would feature a piscina, although they were typically only deep enough for wading, not swimming.

The first being around the 5th century BCE saw a smaller room added where small built tubs were put along the north and east side and an adjacent swimming pool.

The second around the end of the 4th century BCE another room was added on the west side with three of the walls being lined with additional tubs and hot water.

The third renovation took place around the 1st century BCE, which saw an addition of a large apsidal room to the south along with a hypocaust system.

[5] While Greek baths grew in cultural significance, they were generally less complex than their Roman counterparts.

In Nemea, an aqueduct brought spring water from the hills and was held in a reservoir that was built next to the bath house.

[2] There were also aqueducts in Athens, but, unlike Nemea, no evidence supports that they supplied the bath house with water.

A drainage system in the floor was necessary to remove the dumped water and prevent the room from flooding.

However, despite the situational and procedural context of every-day bathing is not often being written down from the past, the evidence from archaeological sites and art can offer information.