Book Description

Abstract: In antiquity, bathing was not the private affair it is today. It was a public activity involving all classes of Roman society. Baths dotted the landscapes of cities across the empire, and even villages, military forts, monasteries, and villas contained public (or semi-public) baths. After an introductory chapter, chapter two provides an introduction to the rich bathing culture of the early Roman empire. It details the social world of the baths, engaging such topics as the role of health care in bathing culture and the nature and extent of mixed bathing in the early Roman world. It then proceeds to an overview of the material evidence, presenting several different types of baths from four select regions in the Roman world. Chapter three analyzes the nature of late antique Christian discourse on baths and bathing. After a discourse analysis I juxtapose other forms of evidence against the ascetic-monastic literature and work toward an understanding of social practice in late Roman bathing culture. Ultimately, the chapter demonstrates that rigorist Christian discourse on baths and bathing in late antiquity served important ideological functions within the Christian community, but should not be taken as an accurate reflection of social practice or mentalities concerning bathing in late antiquity. Chapter four presents a regional study of baths of central and southern Greece, the province of Achaea, and it includes select baths from the islands and Crete. The chapter begins by presenting the archaeological evidence itself. After explaining and presenting the evidence, I analyze the architectural evolution of this body of baths in late antiquity. Ultimately, the architectural evolution of baths in late antiquity offers an opportunity to see how material and cultural forces intersected. I argue that our explanations for the important changes to the architectural design of baths in late antiquity must be sought in the nature of politico-administrative change, economic and fiscal trends and the local and municipal level, and shifting patterns and modes of patronage. In chapter five, I analyze the imperial thermae of Rome in the city's late antique landscape. I argue that the thermae's polyvalent meanings ensured their survival in times of stress and change in late antique Rome. The thermae were important monuments to imperial power, aspects of the built environment through which the emperors propagated a propagandistic stance and image of themselves toward their subjects, one rooted in their power, benevolence, and status as connoisseurs and supporters of classical culture. Chapter six concludes the study by summarizing the dissertation's arguments, drawing some broader connections between chapters, and looking to the Byzantine and Islamic periods. An appendix discusses directions for future work. The dissertation carries implications for how scholars understand the evolution of concepts of the body in late antiquity and the nature of Christianization itself, especially the limits imposed upon the Church when confronted with social practices that were deeply rooted in Roman imperial history. Yet it also demonstrates that bathing in public remained central to daily life at this time.