Roman Baths

Every Roman town would have a public bath house. People would come each day to wash, chat, exercise and relax.

The bathhouse had a large staff of slaves, heating water, carrying towels and helping to clean the bathers.

The slaves would rub the bathers with olive oil and then scrape it off (with any dirt) with a special scraper called a strigil.

Men and women were expected to keep clean and visit the baths every day.

Men had to be clean shaven, which was painful and difficult as good soap and razors hadn't been invented yet. It was a great relief when Emperor Hadrian grew a beard so all the men could then copy him.

Lamplight

There was no electricity. The lamps were made of pottery and burned oil. This might be olive oil if they could afford it (it was imported from Italy where it was made). But most homes burnt tallow, made from animal fat.
The lamps gave a very dull, smokey light.

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