BATHING IN THE ROMAN PROVINCE: LOCAL CHARACTERISTICS OF BATHS IN MOESIA SUPERIOR
BATHING IN THE ROMAN PROVINCE: LOCAL CHARACTERISTICS OF BATHS IN MOESIA SUPERIOR

Summary/Abstract: There are approximately 40 Roman baths dating from the 1st to 4th century AD that have been discovered in the territory of Moesia Superior. Most of them were systematically investigated, while some were only indirectly confirmed, either by means of surveys or through epigraphic monuments. The presence and layout of the rooms in these baths points to the conclusion that most activities in the baths of Moesia Superior were similar to those in other parts of the Empire. However, the baths from this territory also show some peculiarities, setting them apart from other parts of the Roman Empire. Although insufficiently investigated and reported on, the portable archaeological finds point to a whole host of activities that were not connected with the bath’s essential function – hygiene and health. Musical instruments, styluses, board game accessories and spindle discs are just some of the objects that illustrate the activities in baths, suggesting that it is not enough to interpret these objects as places for maintaining hygiene, but as centres of social life, or, in the case of private baths, as places for rest and leisure.

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