Bathing in the Roman World

Fikret Yegul is Professor of History of Art and Architecture at the University of California, Santa Barbara. A scholar of Roman architecture, he has been a member of the Harvard Sardis Excavations in Turkey and the Ohio State University Isthmia Excavations in Greece. Yegul is the author of articles and books on Roman architecture, notably Baths and Bathing in Classical Antiquity, which received the Alice D. Hitchcock Award from the Society of Architectural Historians in 1994.

• 1. Introduction; 2. Popularity of bathing in Roman culture; 3. Bathing rituals and activities; 4. Critics of Roman bathing – ethical and moral questions; 5. Origins and development of Roman baths and bathing; 6. Heating and water supply systems of Roman baths; 7. Architecture of Roman baths; 8. Provincial baths of North Africa; 9. Baths and bathing in Asia Minor: the gymnastic tradition; 10. Bathing and baths in the East during the Late Antique and Byzantine periods: new paradigms of social use; 11. Transformations of Roman baths and bathing in Christian and Islamic societies; 12. Baths, bathing and cleanliness in post-classical European societies.

'This is an affectionate and scholarly account of the ancient romans' passion for bathing which builds on the author's more extensive study, Baths and Bathing in Classical Antiquity.' History Today