Public Baths and Bathing Habits in Late Antiquity: A Study of the Evidence from Italy, North Africa and Palestine A.D. 285-700(6 Late Antique Archaeology (Supplementary Series))

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.

Table of Contents:
Foreword List of Illustrations Abbreviations Introduction  Why Baths Again?  General Aims and Outline of the Research  Geographical Framework  Chronological Framework  Methodology and Sources  The Structure of the Book  Notes on Terminology  Notes on Abbreviations 1 General Introduction to Roman Baths and Earlier Research on Late Antique Baths  General Introduction to Roman Baths and Bathing Habits  Technology of the Baths  The Functioning of the Heating System  Water Management of Baths  Decoration  Popularity of Bathhouses  Earlier Research on Late Antique Baths 2 Written Evidence of Baths  Late Antique Literature  Legal Documents  Epigraphic Evidence  Papyrological Evidence 3 Archaeological Evidence  Introduction  Rome  Ostia  Cuicul  Thamugadi  Carthage  Sufetula  Ptolemais  Scythopolis  Archaeological Evidence of Early Hammams 4 Continuity and Change in Late Antique Public Baths and Bathing Habits  Architecture  Bath Technology  Public Baths and Their Contexts  Decay or Continuity of Baths and Bathing Habits Epilogue—The Transition to the Hammams  General Concluding Remarks and Prospects for Future Research Appendix 1: Late Antique Inscriptions Mentioning Baths  Introduction  Inscriptions from the Italian Peninsula  Inscriptions from North Africa  Inscriptions 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  Primary Sources  Modern Sources Gazetteer Introduction  Key to the General Plans  Baths in the Italian Peninsula, Sicily and Sardinia  Baths in Roman North Africa  New Construction  Baths in Cyrenaica  Baths in Egypt  Ecclesiastical Baths  Fortress Baths  Baths in Palestina Index Late Antique Archaeology

About the Author :
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.

Review :
"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 ground—indeed the introduction even opens with the question ‘Why Baths Again?’—but the study’s 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.