An uninhibited glance into the extensive baths of Rome

In Bathing in the Roman World, Fikret Yegul examines the social and cultural aspects of one of the key Roman institutions. Guiding the reader through the customs, rituals, and activities associated with public bathing, Yegul traces the origins and development of baths and bathing customs and analyzes the sophisticated technology and architecture of bath complexes, which were among the most imposing of all Roman building types. He also examines the reception of bathing throughout the classical world and the transformation of bathing culture across three continents in Byzantine and Christian societies. The volume concludes with an epilogue on bathing and cleanliness in post-classical Europe, revealing the changes and continuities in culture that have made public bathing a viable phenomenon even in the modern era. Richly illustrated and written in an accessible manner, this book is geared to undergraduates for use in courses on Roman architecture, archaeology, civilization, and social and cultural history.

This book examines the survival, transformation and eventual decline of Roman public baths and bathing habits in Italy, North Africa and Palestine during Late Antiquity.

This text 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.

The Roman Baths at Bath is the best-preserved ancient baths and temple complex in northern Europe. It is here, at the heart of the World Heritage Site of Bath, that the only thermal springs in the UK emerge from deep underground, bringing health and vitality to this beautiful city. In the first century AD, the Romans chose this site to build the most dramatic suite of public buildings of Roman Britain. At the Roman Baths visitors can see in-situ remains and ornate architectural fragments of the magnificent Temple of Sulis Minerva, goddess of the thermal spring, and the remarkably well-preserved bath-house frequented by residents and pilgrims nearly 2,000 years ago. Also on display are coins and curses thrown into the Sacred Spring as petitions to the presiding goddess, inscriptions recording local people and well-travelled pilgrims, and numerous other treasures unearthed through archaeological excavations over the past 300 years. The Essential Roman Baths is the brand-new authorised guide to the

The enduring importance of Greek athletic training and competition during the period of the Roman Empire has been a neglected subject in past scholarship on the ancient world. This book examines the impact that Greek athletics had on the Roman world, approaching it through the plentiful surviving visual evidence, viewed against textual and epigraphic sources. It shows that the traditional picture of Roman hostility has been much exaggerated. Instead Greek athletics came to exercise a profound influence upon Roman spectacle and bathing culture. In the Greek east of the empire too, athletics continued to thrive, providing Greek cities with a crucial means of asserting their cultural identity while also accommodating Roman imperial power.

In Gardens of the Roman Empire, the pioneering archaeologist Wilhelmina F. Jashemski sets out to examine the role of ancient Roman gardens in daily life throughout the empire. This study, therefore, includes for the first time, archaeological, literary, and artistic evidence about ancient Roman gardens across the entire Roman Empire from Britain to Arabia. Through well-illustrated essays by leading scholars in the field, various types of gardens are examined, from how Romans actually created their gardens to the experience of gardens as revealed in literature and art. Demonstrating the central role and value of gardens in Roman civilization, Jashemski and a distinguished, international team of contributors have created a landmark reference work that will serve as the foundation for future scholarship on this topic. An accompanying digital catalogue will be made available at: www.gardensoftheromanempire.org.