Bath-houses

None of the houses in a Roman town would have baths - instead each town would have public bath-houses. These were made up of several rooms heated to different temperatures by underfloor heating. People would visit the bath-house to wash, relax and socialise, and visits could last for as long as two hours.

Firstly people would get undressed in a cold room. Then they would go into a hot room where they rubbed their bodies with oil and sat and sweated, talking to their friends - a bit like a sauna. Next they went into the hottest room where they would scrape the sweat, oil and dirt from their skin. Finally they returned to the cold room and jumped into a large bath of cold water, before getting dressed and leaving.

It sounds strange to us, but it kept the Romans clean, and they loved it!