Abstract: In antiquity, bathing was not the private affair it is today. It was a public activity involving all classes of Roman society. Baths dotted the landscapes of cities across the empire, and even villages, military forts, monasteries, and villas contained public (or semi-public) baths. After an introductory chapter, chapter two provides an introduction to the rich bathing culture of the early Roman empire. It details the social world of the baths, engaging such topics as the role of health care in bathing culture and the nature and extent of mixed bathing in the early Roman world. It then proceeds to an overview of the material evidence, presenting several different types of baths from four select regions in the Roman world. Chapter three analyzes the nature of late antique Christian discourse on baths and bathing. After a discourse analysis I juxtapose other forms of evidence against the ascetic-monastic literature and work toward an understanding of social practice in late Roman bathing culture. Ultimately, the chapter demonstrates that rigorist Christian discourse on baths and bathing in late antiquity served important ideological functions within the Christian community, but should not be taken as an accurate reflection of social practice or mentalities concerning bathing in late antiquity. Chapter four presents a regional study of baths of central and southern Greece, the province of Achaea, and it includes select baths from the islands and Crete. The chapter begins by presenting the archaeological evidence itself. After explaining and presenting the evidence, I analyze the architectural evolution of this body of baths in late antiquity. Ultimately, the architectural evolution of baths in late antiquity offers an opportunity to see how material and cultural forces intersected. I argue that our explanations for the important changes to the architectural design of baths in late antiquity must be sought in the nature of politico-administrative change, economic and fiscal trends and the local and municipal level, and shifting patterns and modes of patronage. In chapter five, I analyze the imperial thermae of Rome in the city's late antique landscape. I argue that the thermae's polyvalent meanings ensured their survival in times of stress and change in late antique Rome. The thermae were important monuments to imperial power, aspects of the built environment through which the emperors propagated a propagandistic stance and image of themselves toward their subjects, one rooted in their power, benevolence, and status as connoisseurs and supporters of classical culture. Chapter six concludes the study by summarizing the dissertation's arguments, drawing some broader connections between chapters, and looking to the Byzantine and Islamic periods. An appendix discusses directions for future work. The dissertation carries implications for how scholars understand the evolution of concepts of the body in late antiquity and the nature of Christianization itself, especially the limits imposed upon the Church when confronted with social practices that were deeply rooted in Roman imperial history. Yet it also demonstrates that bathing in public remained central to daily life at this time.

This book examines the survival, transformation and eventual decline of Roman public baths and bathing habits in Italy, North Africa and Palestine during Late Antiquity.

This book discusses social, religious and medical attitudes towards bathing in Late Antiquity. It examines the place of bathing in late Roman and early Byzantine society as seen in the literary, historical, and documentary sources from the late antique period. The author argues that bathing became one of the most important elements in defining what it meant to be a Roman; indeed, the social and cultural value of bathing in the context of late Roman society more than justified the efforts and expense put into preserving bathing establishments and the associated culture. The book contributes a unique perspective to understanding the changes and transformations undergone by the bathing culture of the day, and illustrates the important role played by this culture in contributing to the transitional character of the late antique period. In his examination of the attitudes of medical professionals and laymen alike, and the focus on its recuperative utility, Zytka provides an innovative and detailed approach to bathing.

This text reviews and analyzes the structure, function and design of baths, seeking to integrate their architecture with the wider social and cultural custom of bathing, and examining in particular the changes this custom underwent in Late Antiquity and in Byzantine and Islamic cultures.

This book examines the survival, transformation and eventual decline of Roman public baths and bathing habits in Italy, North Africa and Palestine during Late Antiquity.

"This handbook brings together work by leading scholars of the archaeology of early Christianity in the Mediterranean and surrounding regions. The 34 essays to this volume ground the history, culture, and society of the first seven centuries of Christianity in the latest currents of archaeological method, theory, and research."--

This volume is the outcome of the first conference to take place on the topic of Greek baths and bathing culture, a central but hitherto neglected area in the field of ancient studies. Fifteen papers by an international group of archaeologists, art historians and ancient historians discuss Greek bathing culture from a socio-historical and cultural-anthropological perspective, resulting in a comprehensive reassessment that elucidates the sophistication of both the architecture and the culture of bathing throughout the Greek world. Individual papers examine bathing in the context of science, medicine and the cultural discourses coded in images on vases, while the majority focus on the archaeological evidence itself, as the crucial component in this reassessment that removes Greek baths from the traditional category of 'primitive predecessors' to Roman baths. From Greece and Egypt in the east, to Sicily, southern Italy and France in the west, new information from recent excavations is brought to bear on a wide range of related issues, including urban contexts, regional variations in experimental design and construction, innovations in technology, and the social meaning of the rise of bathing culture in the Hellenistic period. This better understanding of Greek baths adds a crucial element to the much debated question of the relationship between Greek and Roman bathing culture. This book also provides the first comprehensive catalog of all known Greek public baths (balaneia), including descriptions, plans and bibliographies, as a major reference tool for future comparative research on ancient bathing culture and beyond. catalog and papers combined make this a rich study of a topic of newly recognized significance in the ancient world.