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Public Baths and Bathing Habits in Late Antiquity
A Study of the Evidence from Italy, North Africa and Palestine A.D. 285-700
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In this book Sadi Maréchal examines the survival, transformation and eventual decline of Roman public baths and bathing habits in Italy, North Africa and Palestine during Late Antiquity. Through the analysis of archaeological remains, ancient literature, inscriptions and papyri, the continued importance of bathhouses as social hubs within the urban fabric is demonstrated, thus radically altering common misconceptions of their decline through the rise of Christianity and elite seclusion. Persistent ideas about health and hygiene, as well as perpetuating ideas of civic self-esteem, drove people to build, restore and praise these focal points of daily life when other classical buildings were left to crumble.
Sadi Maréchal, Ph.D. (2016), Ghent University, is post-doctoral researcher in Roman archaeology of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO). He has published articles and book chapters on baths and bathing habits in the Roman Empire.
"This book will be a welcome reference resource to scholars interested in the intersection between society and the urban built environment in the Late Antique Roman world. [...] This is a work of reference which interested academics will find to be a welcome resource for understanding Late Antique built environments. Maréchal pays strict attention to space and time and casts a very wide net for the types of data catalogued in this volume. The eight urban case studies in particular offer a comprehensive view of Late Antique cities as spaces that constantly changed alongside the needs of their residents. Maréchal keeps his readers cognizant that this study covers well-trodden groundâindeed the introduction even opens with the question âWhy Baths Again?ââbut the studyâs strengths lie in the meticulous manner in which the data has been collected. By assembling data from hundreds of archaeological reports, standardizing representations of their plans, supplementing them with maps and colour photographs, and summarizing their findings in English, this volume significantly increases accessibility for non-specialist scholars to all manner of evidence for one of the most defining features of life in Late Antique cities". Douglas Whalin, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, June 2021.
Foreword
List of Illustrations
Abbreviations
Introduction
âWhy Baths Again?
âGeneral Aims and Outline of the Research
âGeographical Framework
âChronological Framework
âMethodology and Sources
âThe Structure of the Book
âNotes on Terminology
âNotes on Abbreviations
1 General Introduction to Roman Baths and Earlier Research on Late Antique Baths
âGeneral Introduction to Roman Baths and Bathing Habits
âTechnology of the Baths
âThe Functioning of the Heating System
âWater Management of Baths
âDecoration
âPopularity of Bathhouses
âEarlier Research on Late Antique Baths
2 Written Evidence of Baths
âLate Antique Literature
âLegal Documents
âEpigraphic Evidence
âPapyrological Evidence
3 Archaeological Evidence
âIntroduction
âRome
âOstia
âCuicul
âThamugadi
âCarthage
âSufetula
âPtolemais
âScythopolis
âArchaeological Evidence of Early Hammams
4 Continuity and Change in Late Antique Public Baths and Bathing Habits
âArchitecture
âBath Technology
âPublic Baths and Their Contexts
âDecay or Continuity of Baths and Bathing Habits
EpilogueâThe Transition to the Hammams
âGeneral Concluding Remarks and Prospects for Future Research
Appendix 1: Late Antique Inscriptions Mentioning Baths
âIntroduction
âInscriptions from the Italian Peninsula
âInscriptions from North Africa
âInscriptions from Palestina
Appendix 2: Late Antique Papyri Mentioning Baths
Appendix 3: Lists of Late Antique Baths, Possible Baths and Continued Use of Baths
Glossary
Bibliography
âPrimary Sources
âModern Sources
Gazetteer
Introduction
âKey to the General Plans
âBaths in the Italian Peninsula, Sicily and Sardinia
âBaths in Roman North Africa
âNew Construction
âBaths in Cyrenaica
âBaths in Egypt
âEcclesiastical Baths
âFortress Baths
âBaths in Palestina
Index
Late Antique Archaeology
List of Illustrations
Abbreviations
Introduction
âWhy Baths Again?
âGeneral Aims and Outline of the Research
âGeographical Framework
âChronological Framework
âMethodology and Sources
âThe Structure of the Book
âNotes on Terminology
âNotes on Abbreviations
1 General Introduction to Roman Baths and Earlier Research on Late Antique Baths
âGeneral Introduction to Roman Baths and Bathing Habits
âTechnology of the Baths
âThe Functioning of the Heating System
âWater Management of Baths
âDecoration
âPopularity of Bathhouses
âEarlier Research on Late Antique Baths
2 Written Evidence of Baths
âLate Antique Literature
âLegal Documents
âEpigraphic Evidence
âPapyrological Evidence
3 Archaeological Evidence
âIntroduction
âRome
âOstia
âCuicul
âThamugadi
âCarthage
âSufetula
âPtolemais
âScythopolis
âArchaeological Evidence of Early Hammams
4 Continuity and Change in Late Antique Public Baths and Bathing Habits
âArchitecture
âBath Technology
âPublic Baths and Their Contexts
âDecay or Continuity of Baths and Bathing Habits
EpilogueâThe Transition to the Hammams
âGeneral Concluding Remarks and Prospects for Future Research
Appendix 1: Late Antique Inscriptions Mentioning Baths
âIntroduction
âInscriptions from the Italian Peninsula
âInscriptions from North Africa
âInscriptions from Palestina
Appendix 2: Late Antique Papyri Mentioning Baths
Appendix 3: Lists of Late Antique Baths, Possible Baths and Continued Use of Baths
Glossary
Bibliography
âPrimary Sources
âModern Sources
Gazetteer
Introduction
âKey to the General Plans
âBaths in the Italian Peninsula, Sicily and Sardinia
âBaths in Roman North Africa
âNew Construction
âBaths in Cyrenaica
âBaths in Egypt
âEcclesiastical Baths
âFortress Baths
âBaths in Palestina
Index
Late Antique Archaeology
Anyone interested in the archaeology and history of public baths and bathing habits, in particular scholars and students concerned with urban transformations and societal changes during Late Antiquity.