The Roman Bath @museum.de

Hello and welcome!

Today we're going to tell you about a very special Roman bath located near the Sumelocenna Museum in Rottenburg. The bath is located on the southern part of Mechthildstraße and is well preserved. It was discovered by chance in 1929 during sewer construction work. At that time, it was not possible to excavate everything, so only part of the site was examined and the walls were covered up again. It was not until 1962, when a new building was constructed for the Eugen Bolz Gymnasium, that the bath could be completely uncovered. It dates from the middle of the second century AD and were used until the third century. It is the smallest of the three Roman baths discovered so far in Sumelocenna, measuring 18 meters long and 11 meters wide. The baths were not only used for cleanliness and health, but also for entertainment. People could get massages, play sports, eat, drink, chat, and play games. The baths were usually open from the eighth hour, around 2 p.m. Bathing was strictly separated by gender, either at different times or in different rooms. There was no swimwear; only the soles of the feet were protected from the heat of the floor with wooden clogs. Ointments, oils, and scraping irons, known as STRIGILIS, were used for body massage, while tweezers and ear spoons were used for cosmetic care.

Guests entered the baths through the west side, into a room called the Apodyterium. This was the changing room, where there were benches and compartments for clothing. The old floor can still be seen here. From this room, guests passed through a door into the tepidarium. This room had underfloor heating, and guests could wash themselves in lukewarm water and receive massages and oil treatments on benches. In the corners of the room were hollow bricks that conducted hot air upwards – a form of wall heating! The floor was made of red, polished screed and the walls were plastered in a beautiful wine red. After the warm bath, the guests proceeded through the cold bath to the hot bath. This was the main room. It had a white vaulted ceiling and was decorated with colorful geometric patterns. There were also three semicircular niches containing tubs of hot water. The floor and walls were heated by two boiler rooms, whose fire channels can still be seen today. The temperature here was between 55° and 75°Celsius. After the hot bath, guests cooled off in the cold bath and could immerse themselves in the seventy-centimeter-deep cold water pool called the Piscina. The walls and ceilings were painted with colorful fish. Finally, the guests went straight from the cold bath back to the changing room, got dressed, and left the bath.

That was a brief insight into the Roman bath. Thank you for joining us!

Foto 1-3: © Sumelocenna - Römisches Stadtmuseum Rottenburg am Neckar, Steffen Schlüter

Zeichnung: © LVR-Archäologischer Park Xanten