A frigidarium is one of the three main bath chambers of a

Roman bath In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large imperial bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed in great numbers througho ...

or ''thermae'', namely the cold room. It often contains a swimming pool. The succession of bathing activities in the ''thermae'' is not known with certainty, but it is thought that the bather would first go through the

apodyterium In ancient Rome, the apodyterium (from grc, ἀποδυτήριον "undressing room") was the primary entry in the public baths, composed of a large changing room with cubicles or shelves where citizens could store clothing and other belongin ...

, where he would undress and store his clothes, and then enter the ''elaeothesium'' or ''unctuarium'' to be anointed with oil. After exercising in a special room or court, he would enjoy the hot room, known as ''calidarium'' or ''

caldarium 230px, Caldarium from the Roman Baths at Bath, England. The floor has been removed to reveal the empty space where the hot air flowed through to heat the floor. A caldarium (also called a calidarium, cella caldaria or cella coctilium) was a room ...

'', then the steam room (a moist '' sudatorium'' or a dry ''

laconicum The ''laconicum'' (i.e. Spartan, ''sc.'' ''balneum'', bath). Cf. Greek ''pyriaterion to lakonikon'' "the Laconian vapour-bath"; , . was the dry sweating room of the Roman '' thermae'', contiguous to the ''caldarium'' or hot room. The name was giv ...

''), where he would most likely scrape the by now grimy oil with the help of a curved metal ''

strigil The strigil ( el, στλεγγίς, translit=stlengis, probably a loanword from Pre-Greek substrate) is a tool for the cleansing of the body by scraping off dirt, perspiration, and oil that was applied before bathing in Ancient Greek and Roman ...

'' off his skin, before finally moving to the ''frigidarium'' with its small pool of cold water or sometimes with a large

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

(though this, differently from the '' piscina natatoria'', was usually covered). The water could be also kept cold by using snow. The bather would finish by again anointing his body with oil. The frigidarium was usually located on the northern side of the baths. The largest examples of frigidarium were both in Rome: that of the

Baths of Caracalla , alternate_name = it, Terme di Caracalla , image = File:Baths of Caracalla, facing Caldarium.jpg , caption = The baths as viewed from the south-west. The caldarium would have been in the front of the image , coordinates = ...

, located soon after the entrance, measures 58 x 24 m, and that of the Baths of Diocletian, covered by a groin vault. Some, like one in

Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was burie ...

, had a circular plan.

History

Italy initially had simple baths without tubs, the ''lavatrinae''. Increasing Hellenisation of Italy led to the development of bathing rooms and public baths. Eventually, individual standing hot water tubs were replaced by collective pools and the development of

hypocaust A hypocaust ( la, hypocaustum) is a system of central heating in a building that produces and circulates hot air below the floor of a room, and may also warm the walls with a series of pipes through which the hot air passes. This air can warm th ...

heating. This led to various types of heated rooms including the caldarium, tepidarium, laconicum or sudatorium, and the frigidarium.

Use as Jewish ''mikveh'' and/or Christian baptism pool

There are examples from Hasmonean and Herodian palaces in Judaea (e.g.

Jericho Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho ...

, Herodium), where

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

ritual immersion pools or ''mikva'ot '' were located in the frigidaria of the private royal bathing facilities. A Roman octagonal bath-house, c. 14.5 m across, centered around an octagonal frigidarium pool over 4 m across and with a large

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

conduit for supplying cold water, probably dated to 330-335 CE during the time of

Constantine the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...

, was excavated at Bax Farm,

Teynham Teynham ( ) is a large village and civil parish in the borough of Swale in Kent, England. The parish lies between the towns of Sittingbourne and Faversham, immediately north of the A2 road, and includes the hamlet of Conyer on an inlet of the ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. It had been suggested that the octagonal ''frigidarium'' could have been used for

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

or as a Jewish ritual immersion pool. Retrieved 6 October 2006

References

Rooms Ancient Roman baths {{AncientRome-struct-stub

History

Use as Jewish ''mikveh'' and/or Christian baptism pool

See also

References