touch
In the most important thermal baths of the city, such as those of Caracalla, there were rooms where only fighters would go to sprinkle their skin with ceroma.
This was a substance made of oil and wax, fundamental to soften the skin, and a powder that made it rougher, in contrast to the oiliness of the initial mixture, which prevented the fighters from slipping out of their opponents’ hands during fights.
taste
In the late imperial age the thermal baths became a place of perdition, severely criticised by the Romans themselves.
In fact, in the porticoes that surrounded the structures there were countless shops owned by innkeepers and tavern keepers where it was easy to come by food of all kinds, both sweet and savoury, and a great deal of wine. It was therefore very common to gather in these places between one bath and another, to eat abundantly and toast repeatedly with glasses of wine.
hearing
Various literary testimonies tell us how the baths of the Urbe were anything but silent.
Bathers would noisily discuss current affairs and politics, players would count at the top of their lungs how many passes they could make with a ball, while beauticians would talk loudly with the women undergoing their treatments.
All this noise created a great hullabaloo, in which the ancient Romans, however, still managed to relax.
