Roman Baths and Agency
Proceedings of the International Conference held at the Academia Belgica, Rome, 18-20 October 2023
Edited by K. Beaufay Edited by S. Maréchal
Paperback (Published)
(August 2026)
ISBN: 9789042958074
Price: $182.00
Out of stock
This volume is the fruit of the international conference <i>Roman Baths and Agency. The Human Factor in Designing, Building, Using, Experiencing, and Maintaining Bath Buildings in the Roman Territories</i>, organised by the editors at the Academia Belgica in Rome on 18-20 October 2023.<br/>
Through its 26 contributions, it endeavours to restore the human element within the bath building. Few buildings were so central to Roman society as the bath building, which was frequented almost daily by the vast majority of the population, in all corners of the Roman world. More than with architecture, it is with society this volume is concerned, as it attempts to look at the individual and collective choices made, and the actions performed, by the inhabitants of the Roman territories in relation to baths.<br/>
The volume is organised around six themes. A first section, entitled ‘Architects, builders, contractors and commissioners’, looks at the individuals responsible for the final appearance of the bath building, through their input in terms of design, funding, and workmanship. The second section, ‘Technology and management of resources’, focuses on the people heating the baths, on the technological devices they operated, and on modern models for calculating the energy output of their work. The third part, ‘Adoption of bathing practices’, looks at two areas of the Roman world and considers what (and who) it took to initiate Roman bathing practices in places that had limited similar traditions. The fourth section, entitled ‘Users and usages’, focuses on the identity of the bathers, on the ways they could circulate in the baths and interact with each other, and on the activities they could perform inside them. The fifth section, ‘Senses and perceptions’, tries to reconstruct the feelings and emotions of the bathing experience, for different types of bathers. For that purpose, it uses evidence from ancient literature and epigrams, and considers the role of natural lighting too. The last section, ‘Small finds in Roman baths’, uses a different type of material evidence, namely strigils, small art items, and coins, to look at the lived experience of bathing.<br/>
The conference concluded on a more contemporary note that also unites baths and humans: the creation of the BATH Network, an international research network of scholars specialising in ancient baths and bathing habits. Spearheaded by the editors, it aims at sharing resources on ancient baths and providing a platform to promote collaboration between researchers in the field. It can be found at https://ancientbaths.com/.
- Edited by K. Beaufay
- Edited by S. Maréchal
Other Titles in this Series
Agalmata. Studien zur griechisch-archaischen Bronzekunst
Die Aufsatze zur griechisch-archaischen Bronzekunst von Conrad M. Stibbe wurden zu seinem achtzigsten Geburtstag, am 7. September 2005 gesammelt und besorgt von Barbara Heldring, Paola Pelagatti, Maria Pipili, Herbert Post und De Steures
Volume 11
From Pots to People
A Ceramic Approach to the Archaeological Interpretation of Ploughsoil Assemblages in Late Roman Cyprus
Volume 17
Cura Aquarum in Ephesus. Volumes I and II
Proceedings of the Twelfth International Congress on the History of Water Management and Hydraulic Engineering in the Mediterranean Region, Ephesus/Selcuk, Turkey, October 2-10,2004
Volume 12
Le anfore greco-occidentali dalle necropoli di Himera (VI-V sec. a.C.)
Produzioni e circolazione
Volume 49
The Age of Tarquinius Superbus
Central Italy in the Late 6th Century. Proceedings of the Conference 'The Age of Tarquinius Superbus, A Paradigm Shift?' Rome, 7-9 November 2013
Volume 29
Bathing Culture in Budapest
Proceedings of the International Frontinus Conference Budapest, September 8-15, 2022
Volume 50
From the Mountains to the Sea
The Roman Colonisation and Urbanisation of Central Adriatic Italy
Volume 30
SPA. Sanitas Per Aquam
Tagungsband des Internationalen Frontinus-Symposiums zur Technik und Kulturgeschichte der antiken Thermen. Aachen, 18.-22. Marz 2009
Volume 21
Political Geographies of the Bronze Age Aegean
Proceedings of the Joint Workshop by the Belgian School at Athens (EBSA) and the Netherlands Institute at Athens (NIA), May 28 to 31, 2019
Volume 43
Context and Meaning
Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference of the Association Internationale pour la peinture Murale Antique, Athens, September 16-20, 2013
Volume 31
Shapes and Images
Studies on Attick Black Figure and Related Topics in Honour of Herman A.G. Brijder
Volume 14
Ostie, fenêtres sur cour
Le 'Caseggiato delle Taberne Finestrate': reconstruire cinq siècles de vie ostienne
Volume 44
De Aquaeductu atque Aqua Urbium Lyciae Pamphyliae Pisidiae / The Legacy of Sextus Julius Frontinus
Tagungsband des internationalen Frontinus-Symposiums. Antalya, 31. Oktober - 9. November 2014
Volume 27
Wasserwesen zur Zeit des Frontinus. Bauwerke – Technik – Kultur
Tagungsband des internationalen Frontinus-Symposiums Trier, 25. - 29. Mai 2016
Volume 32
Cultural Messages in the Graeco-Roman World
'Acta of the BABESCH 80th Anniversary Workshop Radboud University Nijmegen, September 8th 2006'
Volume 15
Tracing Technology
Forty Years of Archaeological Research at Satricum, Rome 25-28 October 2017
Volume 42
Material Aspects of Etruscan Religion
Proceedings of the International Colloquium Leiden, May 29 and 30, 2008
Volume 16
Fragile Biography
The Life Cycle of Ceramics and Refuse Disposal Patterns in Late Antique and Early Medieval Palestine
Volume 35
