A Look Inside the Pompeii Baths

While scholars say that in many Roman baths men and women bathed together, apparently in Pompeii males and females had separate rooms and times. Public baths were very affordable, and the Romans valued cleanliness.

The flat basin in Pompeii's Baths of the Forum is a fountain that spilled water onto the heated floor, creating steam. The inscription on the basin rim indicates its donors' (politicians) names and how much they paid.

Pompeii had six public baths, each with men's and women's separate sections. Here we're in the men's area.

After entering a large dressing room with pegs for hanging clothing, the guys could sit in a hot tub, take a warm bath, or soak in cold water. The floor contained non-slip mosaics and ribbed ceilings (click on top left photo for a closer look) to prevent condensation from dripping on customers' heads.

The male figures ringing the tepidarium (warm-water room) are caryatids serving as supporting pillars, dividing lockers. Clients would undress, warm up, and perhaps get a massage here, or stretch out on a bronze bench near the bronze heater. The ceiling was partially crushed by the eruption.