Chap. IV.

ROMAN.

125

the assistance of any one; according to him, it appears clear that three volumes of waterbeing level, a vase fills in proportion to what it loses, attention being paid to the placingthe bottoms of the vases each a little higher than the other, so that the caldarium shouldbe the lowest, and the frigidarium the highest; there was no fear that the order of the trans-version should be reversed; that inconvenience might even be obviated by stoppers placed atthe entrance of the tubes of communication.

There was also another manner of heating the baths, which Seneca describes thus. “ \\ ehave a species of high narrow vases, in the form of dragons and other things, in which pipesof thin copper are placed in a spiral order, that the water, by frequently circulating throughthe same space, may become heated. As the warm water flows out, the cold water flowsin, and all that passes acquires the same degree of heat.” Seneca shows the advantage ofthis proceerling, and tells us, that the tube through which the fluid descended, having nocommunication with the fire, the vapours were not mixed with the smoke.

Probably this was not a general method ; there is reason to believe that it was onlyadopted by the rich. These vessels derived their name either from the animals which theyrepresented, or from the quantity of water which they contained ; there was necessarily a holetowards the bottom of the basin to conduct the warm water, and when the proper warmthwas obtained for use, and the tap was turned to let it flow into the lower extremity of thepipe, the cold water entered the pipe by the upper, and descended as the warm water wasdrawn out: when the water which had first been heated had passed through the spiral tubes,the cold which had come in descended to the bottom of the pipe, after having been warmedin its passage, in proportion to the length and diameter of the pipe, to the quantity of-water in the vessel, and to the degree of heat at which it had been maintained by meansof the fire. The water was enclosed in such a manner as to prevent its sudden evaporation,which would have occasioned the introduction of cold water, and this would have abstractedfrom the pipe the degree of heat necessary for the use of the hath.

It is improbable that all these refinements of luxury and effeminacy were known tothe Greeks, with whom the baths were only part of the gymnasium, whilst under theemperors the gymnasium formed part of the baths ; it is quite certain that all such delicacieswere not practised among the early Romans; in the best ages of the republic, the pro-ceedings and customs of the hath were as simple as the edifices which contained them. Itwill he interesting to recal the parallel which Seneca has made between the bath of SeipioAfricanus and those of his time.

“ There are persons who consider Seipio as unrefined, for not having wide win-dow’s to his w’arm bath. How unhappy w’as he, say they ; he knew not how to enjoylife I It is true that he did not always bathe in limpid water ; it was often troubled, andeven muddy in time of rain. But it was unimportant to him what water he used, for,using no perfumes, he w’ashed merely to cleanse his body. His bath was small and dark,according to the custom of the ancients, for our ancestors imagined'that a hath could not hewarm without darkness. How delightful is it to compare the manners of Seipio with ours.This, then, is the hovel in w-hich that great man bathed,—he who was the terror of Carthage,and to whom we ow’e it that our city w'as only once taken : he lived under that humbleroof, he walked on that vile pavement; now, who would bathe thus? We think ourselvespoor and miserable if we do not trample under foot mosaics and precious marbles; themarbles of Numidia are united to the stones of Thasus ; the light is reflected from crystal,the water flows into the baths by taps of silver, and this is only for the people : what if Iwere to describe the baths of our freedmen, the crow’ds of statues, the multitudes of columnssupporting nothing, only placed there for decoration, and on account of their dearness? Withwhat noise does the water precipitate itself into the places destined to receive it. Our luxuryhas arrived at such a point, that we will no longer walk on any thing hut precious stones.Instead of windows, the hath of Seipio had small openings in the stone walls, which,without diminishing their strength, only give the requisite light; now the baths would hecalled caves, if the windows were not of an immeasurable height, so as to admit the raysof the sun during the whole day, if we did not hum in bathing, and if from one’s seat wedid not see the country or the sea: formerly the baths were of small number, and withoutornament, Sec. &c.”

We learn by this letter of Seneca to what a point of magnificence luxury was carried inthe edifices destined for the bath, and the recital is quite conformable with the remains thatare still left us ; in the greater number we see the rich covering of the walls. In the hathroom or hall recently discovered at Otricoli are still preserved fragments of the rarest mar-bles; its pavement was formed of that mosaic which is now the principal ornament in theMusamm Vaticanum. In the baths of Titus the walls were covered with marble to aboutthe height of 10 feet, to preserve the paintings which decorated the walls from being injuredby the splashing of the water. It appears that in these baths, a portion of the rooms, par-ticularly those intended for the warm baths, had no window ; at least none has been dis-covered.

When it became a custom to frequent the baths at night, luxury took advantage of the