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BALNEAE.

balnearum (2b. 26), and Aulus Gellius(iii. 1, x. 3) of balneas Sitias. But this accuracy of diction is neglected by many of the subsequent writers, and particularly by the poets, amongst whom balnea is not uncommonly used in the plural number to sig­nify the public baths, since the word balneae could not be introduced in an hexameter verse. Pliny also, in the same sentence, makes use of the neuter plural balnea for public, and of balnezim for a private bath. (Ep. ii. 17.) Thermae (^ep^ou, hot springs) meant properly warm springs, or baths of warm water ; but came to be applied to those magnificent edifices which grew up under the empire, in place of the simple balneae of the republic, and which comprised within their range of buildings all the appurtenances belonging to the Greek gymnasia, as well as a regular establishment appropriated for bathing. (Juv. Sat. vii. 233). Writers, however, use these terms without distinction. Thus the baths erected by Claudius Etruscus, the freedman of the Emperor Claudian, are styled by Statius (Sylv. i. 5. 13) balnea? and by Martial (vi. 42) Etrusci thermulae. In an epigram by Martial (ix. 76)—subice balneum thermis—the terms are not applied to the whole building, but to two different chambers in the same edifice.

Greek Baths. — Bathing was a practice familiar to the Greeks of both sexes from the earliest times, both in fresh water and salt, and in the natural warm springs, as well as vessels artificially heated. Thus Nausicaa, daughter of Alcinous, king- of Phaeacia, goes out with her attendants to wash her clothes ; and after the task is done, she bathes herself in the river. (Od. vi. 58, 65.) Ulysses, who is conducted to the same spot, strips and takes a bath, whilst Nausicaa and her servants stand aside. (Od. vi. 210—224.) Europa also bathes in the river Anaurus (Mosch. Id. ii. 31), and Helen and her companions in the Eurotas. (Theocr. Id. vii. 22.) Warm springs were also resorted to for the purpose of bathing. The 'Hpa/cAaa \ovrpa shown by Hephaestus or Athena to Hercules are celebrated by the poets, Pindar speaks of the hot baths of the nymphs — frep/m Nufi^ai/ Aourpa (Olymp. xii. 27), and Homer (II. xxii. 149) cele­brates one of the streams of the Scamander for its warm temperature. The artificial warm bath was taken in a vessel called affd/jui/9os by Homer, and e/xga<ns by Athenaeus (i. p. 25). It would ap­pear from the description of the bath administered to Ulysses in the palace of Circe, that this vessel did not contain water itself, but was only used for the bather to sit in while the warm water was poured over him, which was heated in a large caldron or tripod, under which the fire was placed, and when sufficiently warmed, was taken out in other vessels and poured over the head and shoulders of the person who sat in the acrdftu/Qos. (Od. x. 359—365.) Where cleanliness merely was the object sought, cold bathing was adopted, which was considered as most bracing to the nerves (Athen. ?.<?.) ; but after violent bodily exertion or fatigue warm water was made use of, in order to refresh the body, and relax the over tension of the muscles,. (Id. ib.; comp. Horn. II. x. 576, Od. iv. 48, et alibi.)

The a<rd}j,w8os was of polished marble, like the basins (labra) which have been discovered in the Roman baths, and sometimes of silver. Indul­gence in the warm bath was considered, in Homer's time, a mark of effeminacy (Od. viii. 248).

BALNEAE.

The use of the warm bath was preceded by bath­ing in cold water (II. x. 576). The later custom of plunging into cold water a-fter the warm bath men­tioned by Aristeides (vol. i. Oral. 2. Sacr. Serin. p. 515), who wrote in the second century of our1 era, was no doubt borrowed from the Romans.

After bathing, both sexes anointed themselves with oil, in order that the skin might not be left harsh and rough, especially after warm water. (Od. vi. 96 ; Athen. 1. c. ; Plin. //. N. xiii. 1. ; see also II. xiv. 172, xxiii. 186.) The use of pre­cious unguents (fivpa) was unknown at that early period. In the heroic ages, as well as later times, refreshments were usually taken after the bath. (Od. vi. 97.)

The Lacedaemonians, who considered warm water as enervating and effeminate, used two kinds of baths ; namely, the cold daily bath in the Eurotas (Xen. Hell v. 4. § 28 ; Pint. Ale. 23), and a dry sudorific bath in a chamber heated with warm air by means of a stove (Dion Cass. liii. p. 515, ed. Hannov. 1606) ; arid from them the chamber used by the Romans for a similar purpose was termed Laconicum (compare Strabo, iii. p. 413, ed. Siebenkees, and Casaub. ad loc.\

At Athens the frequent use of the public baths was regarded in the time of Socrates and De­mosthenes as a mark of luxury and effeminacy. (Demosth. c. PolycL p. 1217.) Accordingly Pho-cion was said to have never bathed in a public bath (ev (3a\avei(a ^fjiocrievovri, Pint. Plioc. 4), and Socrates to have made use of it very seldom. (Plato, Symp. p. 174.) It was, however, only the warm baths (/3aAave?a, called by Homer ^ep/xa \ovrpd) to which objection was made, and which in ancient times were not allowed to be built within the city. (Athen. i. p. 18,b.) The esti­mation in which such baths were held, is ex­pressed in the following lines of Hermippus (ap» Athen. I. c.)

rby civSpa & arv

Ma rbv Af , ov fj.€vroi ) o&5e

In the Clouds of Aristophanes the Si/ccuos- \6yos warns the young man to abstain from the baths (fla\avei<*}i' airexeffOai, 1. 978), which passage, com­pared with 1. 1028 — 1037, shows that warm baths are intended by the word /3aAcwe?a.

The baths (/3aA.aj/e?a) were either public (877-//ocna, o^jUOfneiWra) or private (ftJjcc, iS/ey-n/ca). The former were the property of the state, but the latter were built by private individuals, and were opened to the public on the payment of a fee (eTnAourpoz/). Such private baths are mentioned by Plutarch (Demetr. 24) and Isaeus (De Dicaeog. her. p. 101), who speaks of one which was sold for 3000 drachmae. (De Philoct. her. p. 140.) Baths of this kind may also have been intended some­times for the exclusive use of the persons to whom they belonged. (Xen. Rep. Ath. ii. 10.) A small fee appears to have been also paid by each person to the keeper of the public baths (/3aAaz>eus), which in the time of Lucian was two oboli. (Lucian, Lexipli. 2. vol. ii. p. 320.)

We know very little of the baths of the Athe­nians during the republican period ; for the account of Lucian in his Hippias relates to baths con­structed after the Roman model. On ancient vases, on which persons are represented bathing, we never find any thing corresponding to a modern bath in which persons can stand or sit; but there is always