Pompeiian Research Paper

Public bathing forced Pompeiians to interact with people outside of their class and age group by bringing them all together while engaging in personal hygiene. Everyone enjoyed engaging in public baths since they were a necessary way to clean and refresh oneself, but they were also a social event (footnote?). Pompeii had four main public baths: the Stabian, the Forum, the Central, and the Amphitheater (footnote Michael). These baths were not just a giant bathtub. They included other rooms such as dressing rooms, bathrooms, pools, a space similar to a gymnasium, a “cold room,” and a “hot room” (like a sauna) (site website). The bathing process included visiting each of these rooms. Each of these locations in a bathhouse presented new opportunities for Pompeiians to socialize with different locals and visitors. People often discussed politics, literature, news, and poets even shared their new writings with the audience around them (yellow book 31). Sharing new ideas could be specifically insightful for Pompeiians if they happened to interact with a visitor who was not from Pompeii. Public baths gave all Pompeiians opportunities to engage in these activities with people outside of their hierarchal class. Pompeiians could discuss
Though slaves did not necessarily use public baths, they still accompanied their owners to public baths (footnote). This implies that although slaves did not use public baths, they were still present when other Pompeiians were there. This gave them the opportunity to socialize and interact with other slaves and Pompeiians. Not only would slaves be seen at the bath houses, but at times so would people of high status such as wealthy people or emperors (Green footnote). Without fancy clothing and elaborative material possessions, Pompeiians could not distinguish which class that the person bathing next to them belonged to. Public baths created a way to unify people of different classes and