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Baths and Bathing in Late Antiquity

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Baths and Bathing in Late Antiquity Baths and Bathing in Late Antiquity Ph.D. thesis 2013 Michal Zytka Summary This thesis examines the cultural, religious and therapeutic functions of Roman baths and bathing during Late Antiquity, as they are presented in a wide range of primary literary sources, and the way in which they are addressed in current research. The chronological scope of the work stretches from the late 3rd to the early 7th century. The geographical focus is on the Eastern part of the Roman Empire. The aim of the thesis is, primarily, to analyse aspects of bathing during this period that have not been previously addressed in detail (such as medicinal uses of bathing) and to examine the issues that have been discussed in the past but had not been answered unequivocally, or which have not been treated in an exhaustive manner – such as the matters of nudity and equality in a bath-house environment, or of Christian attitudes to bathing in this context. The thesis also considers what the knowledge of the subject topic contributes to our understanding of the period of Late Antiquity. The thesis examines the changes that occurred in the bathing culture during Late Antiquity and their causes, exploring in detail the impact of Christianity on bathing customs, and devotes special attention to how the perceptions of bathing were presented in the contemporary sources. This will be achieved by investigating passages from a wide range of texts mentioning baths and bathing and subsequently drawing conclusions based on the analysis of the primary sources. 1 Abbreviations ................................................................................................................. 3 Introduction.................................................................................................................... 4 Chronological and geographical boundaries ............................................................ 5 General remarks ........................................................................................................ 8 General overview of bathing in the Roman world ................................................... 17 Chapter 1: Baths and Roman society........................................................................... 22 Importance of infrastructure: water supply, its maintenance .................................. 22 Construction works .................................................................................................. 41 Symbolism of the baths............................................................................................. 52 Nudity and its implications – social and sexual attitudes ........................................ 55 Mixed sex bathing .................................................................................................... 59 Bath-houses as a social space.................................................................................. 62 Bathing and luxury ................................................................................................... 66 Bathing in the absence of proper amenities ............................................................. 71 Inappropriate or unusual uses of baths ................................................................... 72 Death, accidents and mishaps while bathing ........................................................... 74 Conclusions - chapter one ....................................................................................... 78 Chapter 2: Baths, bathing and religion ....................................................................... 81 Introduction.............................................................................................................. 81 Baptism .................................................................................................................... 83 Martyrdom, miracles and healing............................................................................ 90 Encounters and social interactio in a Christian society .......................................... 97 Christian attitudes towards bath-houses and bathing ........................................... 101 Wealth and luxury in the context of bathing .......................................................... 110 Baths and popular beliefs ...................................................................................... 114 Bathing in the Jewish community .......................................................................... 119 Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 122 Chapter 3: Bathing in medicine ................................................................................. 124 Introduction............................................................................................................ 124 Importance of water in medicine ........................................................................... 135 Regimen in health .............................................................................................. 139 Afflictions and conditions for which bathing was advised in general ................... 144 Bathing in drinking water .................................................................................. 144 Bathing in sea water, mineral waters, waters with added substances .............. 150 Conditions in which bathing was allowed under specific circumstances .............. 155 Bathing that should be done on specific days or stages of the treatment .......... 162 Conditions treated by washing a part of the body ................................................. 164 In pure water ...................................................................................................... 164 In water with added ingredients or in other substances .................................... 166 Other procedures associated with bath-houses ......................................................... 173 Conditions in which bathing was discouraged ...................................................... 175 Other cases............................................................................................................. 177 Non-medical authors on medicine ......................................................................... 180 Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 190 Final conclusions ....................................................................................................... 192 Appendix – list of bath-houses .............................................................................. 198 Bibliography .............................................................................................................. 200 Index ........................................................................................................................... 215 2 Abbreviations ANF – A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, A. Cleveland Coxe (eds.), The Ante-Nicene Fathers, T. & T. Clark 1885 CIC – Corpus Iuris Civilis, S. P. Scott (ed. and transl.), The civil law, Cincinnati 1932 CMG – Corpus Medicorum Graecorum LCL – Loeb Classical Library MPG – J. P. Migne (ed.), Patrologia Graeca, Paris 1857-66 NPNF – P. Schaff, H. Wace (eds.), A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, T. & T. Clark 1886-1900 NRSV – W. A. Meeks, J. M. Bassler (eds.), The HarperCollins Study Bible. New Revised Standard Version, HarperCollins 1989 3 Introduction This thesis examines the cultural, religious and therapeutic functions of Roman baths during Late Antiquity, as they are presented in a wide range of primary literary sources as well as examining how these subjects are addressed in current research. My aim is, primarily, to analyse previously unresearched aspects of bathing during this period (such as medicinal uses of bathing) and to address the issues that have been discussed in the past but had not been resolved conclusively (such as the matter of nudity and mixed sex bathing). In particular, I intend to examine the changes that occurred in the bathing culture during this time and devote special attention to how the perceptions of bathing were presented in the contemporary sources. This will be achieved by investigating passages from a wide range of texts mentioning baths and bathing and subsequently drawing conclusions based on the analysis of the primary sources. In particular, I wish to identify and examine the possible roles and functions of bath-houses for the Romans. I am going to examine the descriptions of bathing and bathers and attempt to determine the reasons for which bath-houses enjoyed such high popularity in Roman society in Late Antiquity. By doing this, I aim to further expand the understanding of one of the most important elements of the social life in the Roman Empire. Furthermore, I intend to determine the extent to which the Romans themselves of that time (or more specifically, the educated elite who produced the literary sources I will be using) appreciated – or not – the significance of bathing for their society and its place in everyday life. In the first chapter in particular, I will attempt to determine the extent to which bath-houses served as cultural institutions and places of social interaction, and whether the importance of bath-houses as places where such activities took place changed during this period. Accepting the view that Late Antiquity was a period of change and transformation (an issue that will be discussed in
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