Product Description

Bathing in antiquity elevates a prosaic function to the level of a civic institution for which there is no counterpart in contemporary culture. Enriched by over 500 illustrations, many of them by the author, Baths and Bathing in Classical Antiquity is an important sourcebook for this ancient institution. Through hundreds of examples, it reviews and analyzes the structure, function, and design of baths, seeking to integrate their architecture with the wider social and cultural custom of bathing, and examining in particular the changes this custom underwent in Late Antiquity and in Byzantine and Islamic cultures. Yegul explores the complexities of ancient bathing from several points of view. Sociologically, the baths with their vast appeal for all levels of society - were seen as the epitome of democratic ideals and institutions. Politically, they provided the perfect vehicle of propaganda: their lavish and magnificent interiors reflected the might and prosperity of the Roman empire and the apparent generosity of the emperor himself. Architecturally, baths are at the vanguard in the development of Roman building technology. Some of the earliest uses of concrete as a building material and the most innovative applications of the aesthetics of concrete - bold, curvilinear forms, vaults, and domes involved bath buildings. Because of their status as transition between purely utilitarian structures and the more conservative, traditional forms of public and religious architecture, the baths helped to propagate and make acceptable new ideas and new styles in architecture. Fikret K. Yegul is a practicing architect, Professor of the History of Architecture, and Chair of the Art History Department at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2461415 in Books
• Published on: 1992-08-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 544 pages

Review
"In the world of Greece and Rome the practice of bathing . . . could embrace both the comfort of the bather and the self-satisfaction and self-advertisement of those who made that comfort possible through their wealth or patronage. A visit to the public baths, we are reminded in Baths and Bathing in Classical Antiquity, became a daily ritual in which the actual bath played a minor role, while provision of public baths for the citizenry became a duty that no governor, emperor or man of means could afford to neglect. . . . [Yegul's] book offers a very rich compendium of the architectural evidence, Greek and Roman, and is very fully illustrated. . . . The Roman provinces (especially modern Turkey and North Africa) occupy more space than Rome itself, and there are special sections devoted to spas, medicine, and the problems of water supply and heating."
—John Boardman, New York Times Book Review

About the Author
Fikret Yegül is Professor of Ancient Art and Architecture in the History of Art and Architecture Department, the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Customer Reviews

This book brings ancient Roman baths to life.
Fikret Yegul makes the assertion that baths and bathing in the ancient Roman world were an integral part of daily life for a multitude of reasons: social activity, hygenic and intellectual. It was not uncommon for baths to contain reading rooms, lecture rooms and libraries. The baths helped to unite the Roman world in a unique fashion. These structures were adaptable to various cultural settings and tastes. Consequently the habit spread from one end of the Roman world to the next. In the west there was remarkable experimentation with design, shapes and planning. This book makes the Roman day make sense and sheds new light on the intellectual leanings of the Romans.

Bene lava a Roman would say while scurrying off to the bath. Fikret informs us that a Roman would refresh not only their body with waters of different temperatures, steam rooms and massage rooms but also their mind. Bathe a Roman would do at least once a day. At the bath an ordinary Roman would experience a variety of opportunities: a dip in a cold pool, immersion in a tepid pool or in a hot pool or even spend time in a steam room. All the while there were opportunities to watch roving jugglers, short skits or poetry readings in a lecture hall. Roving vendors for food and bath supplies wandered about. There were parks and libraries in the large baths. Plenty of room and places for peace and quiet to read, relax and discuss. There were exercise grounds for mild or strenuous exercise. Some teachers held class at the baths. Not only were the baths designed with places suitable for teaching but rooms such as that for the cold pool (frigidarium) had displays of famous sculpture. In the bath complex of Agrippa there were 300 plus statues throughout. Elaborate fountains sent water cascading over statuary and fine, rare marbles. The baths were not religious centers; these were open to all; a place to refresh, relax and restore the intellect and body: mens sana in corpore sano.

A temple complex required certain adherence to time honored rules of design. This was not so with the baths. Thus these became places for experimentation and creativity. Vaults and domes reigned supreme. It is as though some architects took paper in hand, grabbed a compass and began experimenting. Imagine a building as a very large rectangle divided up into several very large rooms. A roman architect would with compass and ruler in hand break up that building into pieces, make each room a dome or an octagonal room or a vaulted room of varying lengths, size and height. Then each of these new buildings he would rearrange into an intelligent and visually appealing pattern which would enhance the bathing experience. And accommodate more efficiently larger numbers of people than the original large rectangular building.

Fikret discusses with clarity all of these issues. He also covers attitudes toward baths, bathing morality and a wide range of issues.