Who knew that the Roman's had swimming pools? Well, at a recently discovered site in Jerusalem, archaeologists discovered the remains of several pools and baths that were once indoor structures of some sort of bath house. The discovered terra cotta roof tiles indicate that this was a large indoor structure. Some of these tiles were marked “LEG X FR,” for the tenth legion, "Fretensis". These pools are said to have been used by the Roman soldiers after taking Jerusalem and removing the Jews from their city. One of the plastered pools contains the footprint of a dog, possibly belonging to a soldier. This vast bath house reveals the extreme size of the Roman city in Jerusalem, founded by Emperor Hadrian. It shows the extent of artistry and technique used to make returning soldiers comforted and relaxed, which also shows the leisurely culture of the Romans.
Controversy of whether or not these water holding structures were pools or simply baths arose, however, the differing sizes and depths of them may show them to be used for several different purposes; possibly even a leisurely swim.
5 comments:
The description of these pools seems reminiscent to the leisure baths back home in Rome where members of any class could go and soak; this was a popular way to spread news and talk with friends. The Romans really seemed to make themselves at the newly taken-over Jerusalem.
Thats pretty interesting! It's funny how modern and Roman technology are intertwined with each other.
It is fascinating to think, people about a thousand years before us, were really not that different from us in the way of leisure time. It is also crazy to think that even with their limited technology (in comparison to us), pools were still available to the masses. It would be rather interesting to see if they had pluming in these pools to provide running water to supply the pools with fresh water, or if they just channeled the water from the aqueducts into the pool. Also, one cant help but wonder, how they keep it sanitary and clean, or if they just left the filth in the pool as is. It is not only a testoment to the size of the city, but to the engineering capabilities of the Romans as well.
I find it very interesting that people at that time period would have used pools for their enjoyment. It seems that the pools created during this time period may have been way ahead of their time. Also, I think it is cool that people from the ancient time period of Rome used the same thing we did hundreds of years before us.
I think the soldiers had these baths so they could relax after a difficult day, gaining enough energy for the next. It shows how opulent the Roman Empire was to create these structures for their soldiers, instead of making them bathe in a river or a pond. I believe the structures would be used for bathing since the soldiers can get quite dirty in a days work.I think the Roman Empire demonstrates how important their soldiers were by creating these baths for them.
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