2Though hygienic, they didn’t use soap

Of the many architectural achievements the Romans lay claim to, their need to bathe and the creation of the bathhouse is one of the things they are most known for.

There was a defined process. It was all a part of the experience. In the Palaestra, men could exercise and beef up before getting oiled and taken to the baths. And yes, there’s an order in which you take a bath. First, the Roman would go into a Frigidarium. As the name implies, frigid = cold. The first baths they visited were in a cold room. Once they plunged in for a quick soak, they would proceed into the Tepidarium, aka the warm room, to recover. Afterward, they would visit the Caldarium, or the hot baths. This lengthy process ended when a servant squeegeed any left-over oil off their skin with a strigil. Once that was over, bathers would repeat the same exact process…but backward.

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