Clipeus. From an old woodcut
The tepidarium, as the name would imply, was a room in which a moderately warm bath could be taken and where the process of dry rubbing also took place. In the balneum a hot bath could be taken, originally in a tub, but in later times in a large reservoir; and in the frigidarium a cold plunge could be had. The elæothesium was the anointing room where the body was rubbed with oil and massaged.
Floor Plan of the Baths of Pompeii
From an old woodcut
A good idea of the general layout of a Roman bath can be gained from the accompanying woodcut, showing the ground floor plan of the baths of Pompeii. The baths, as may be seen by the illustration, are nearly surrounded on three sides by houses and shops. The whole building, which comprises a double set of baths, has six different entrances from the street, one of which, A, gives admission to the smaller set only, which was appropriated to the women, and five others to the male department, of which two, B and C, communicate directly with the furnaces, and the other three, D, E, F, with the bathing apartments, of which F, the nearest to the Forum, was the principal one; the other two, D and E, being on opposite sides of the building served for the convenience of those who lived on the north and east sides of the city. To have a variety of entrances was one of the qualities considered necessary to a well constructed set of baths.
