The Roman Bath or Hamam in Seleukia / Lyrbe
- Written by Portal Editor
About 2000 years ago, about 170 public baths had been established in Rome, which, in addition to hygiene and physical fitness, were mainly used for social purposes. The Roman bath in Seleukia belongs to this philosophy too.
At the Roman bath traditionally differently tempered steam and water baths have been traversed. The tepidarium (from lat. Tepidus mild) is a gentle, lukewarm bath with a temperature between 37 and 39 C and is classified as a regeneration bath between cold and hot baths.
The stay within the bath was subject to no compulsory time limit. The caldarium (from lat. Calidus hot) is also referred to as steam cave or aroma steam bath. The Caldarium is characterized by an air humidity of up to 100 % and a radiant heat of between 42 and 50 C.
As in the tepidarium, the heat is radiated evenly from marble-tiled walls, benches and ceiling. The ideal length of stay was between 30 and 40 minutes.
The Laconium (presumably named after the Lakonian tribe) is considered as an intensive area. At a constant temperature of approx. 55 to 65 C, the body gets into a sweat at the latest after 15 minutes. The stay can take up to an hour.
The frigidarium (cooling from lat. Frigidus) is a cold room. The stay here serves the revitalization after a long stay in a room with radiant heat. Especially the change from warm to cold rooms is particularly important.
Unfortunately, the current state of the Roman bath in Seleukia does not permit an exact allocation of the premises. Since hardly any excavation work was carried out, the local processes could not be clearly clarified.
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