The Roman baths have gotten quite a reputation in the intervening centuries since they were the hot place to be during the Republic. While the activities that undoubtedly took place inside these great bath halls may be replayed in modern circumstances, there is a connection between contemporary society and the societal value of the Roman baths that most people are not familiar. The Roman baths were the ancient equivalent of today’s gyms, fitness centers and spas. You can’t work yourself into a physical state of exhaustion without the need to relieve the multiple effects of such a state, and the Romans were just as concerned with the aftereffects of physical exercise as anyone living in Los Angeles or New York today. Both societies also used state-of-the-art plumbing to create an atmosphere where both platonic and romantic entanglements could begin after the workout.

Today’s nautilus machines and Jazzercise are reflected in the ancient Roman practices of wrestling, weightlifting, fencing and games. Roman women were highly athletic as well, preferring to play a game called trochus, which involved a stick and metal hoop. These athletic pursuits could work up quite a sweat, as well as leave the body subject to myriad pains in the joints and muscles that those who ride bikes and play racquetball feel today. The Romans were the leaders in the engineering of plumbing technology, and their baths were the apotheosis of this knowledge. Those designs gave birth to the mud baths, saunas and showers of today where tall tales of conquests can be swapped as easily as flirtatious compliments.

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