Ostia - the visitors of the baths

Which people visited which baths? A simple question, but very difficult to answer. There are no basic, purely functional baths. Niches for statues are seen frequently. Mosaic floors are common, typically with Nereids on sea animals. Marble was used for floors and as revetment for walls. In three baths beautiful stucco reliefs were found (Baths of the Coachmen, Baths of the Lighthouse, Baths of the Swimmer). In many baths are paintings with flowers and leaves, and of vases (Baths of the bathing attendant Epictetus Buticosus, Baths of the Christian Basilica , Maritime Baths, Baths of the Seven Sages; scant remains also in the Baths of the Trinacria, Baths of the Six Columns, Baths of the Philosopher, and Baths of the Jealous One). In the Baths of Neptune they are even in a communal latrine, whereas another such latrine on the other side of the building has a mosaic floor with a Nilotic scene.

The Baths of the Forum are, in view of their location, size and decoration, the obvious place to look for the local elite and wealthy visitors. The Baths of the Marine Gate (the real Maritime Baths) were surely visited by people from Rome, who stayed overnight with friends or in a hotel. The seashore was popular. Thus Aulus Gellius, in the middle of the second century, wrote that he and three philosophers "were walking along the shore in springtime, just as evening was falling; but when the first night-lights appeared and the darkness grew thicker, we escorted Favorinus to the house where he was putting up; and when he went in, we separated". Minucius Felix, in the early third century, tells of a visit to Ostia with two intellectuals, and says that "in the early morning we were going towards the sea along the shore, that both the breathing air might gently refresh our limbs, and that the yielding sand might sink down under our easy footsteps with excessive pleasure", and "when we came to that place where the little ships, drawn up on an oaken framework, were lying at rest supported above the risk of ground-rot, we saw some boys eagerly gesticulating as they played at throwing shells into the sea". The location of the third large baths is somewhat surprising. Together with a few expensive apartments the Baths of Neptune are hemmed in by the theatre, the busy commercial Square of the Corporations, workshops, the Barracks of the Fire Brigade, and one or two warehouses. Perhaps it was customary to combine attending theatrical performances with a (free?) visit to these baths.

It would make sense if the smaller baths were visited by people living in the neighbourhood, on fixed days and at fixed hours, to meet friends and acquaintances. Also, in this way crowding would be avoided. However, there are indications (sometimes admittedly thin) that some of these baths targeted a specific clientele. The Baths of the Coachmen were named after the depiction of cab drivers (cisiarii) on a mosaic floor. The building is situated directly behind the Roman Gate, and surely it was visited by travelers who had arrived from Rome and who - shaken, tired and dirty - wanted to freshen up before moving on to their hotel or friends. The Baths of the bathing attendant Epictetus Buticosus may have been visited by people who had just arrived by ship, at the Tiber quays. This possibility is discussed in the preliminary interpretation of small travertine stones in the facades of buildings.

At the west end of the excavated area three baths are in close proximity: the Baths of the Seven Sages, Baths of the Trinacria, and Baths of Mithras. The Baths of the Seven Sages form an integral part of a block with the House of the Charioteers and the House of Serapis, and will have been visited by the inhabitants of the upper floors. Quite surprising is the text STATIO CVNNVLINGIORVM on a mosaic floor in one of the heated rooms of the Baths of the Trinacria. It seems unlikely that it was ever seen by women, and suggests that only men frequented these baths. The very large, wide text in a black frame is clearly an echo of the mosaics on the Square of the Corporations. This, taken together with the symbol of Sicily after which the baths were named, may be a clue as to who these men were: they could have been visiting merchants or representatives of merchants who stayed in Ostia for a few weeks or months.

EPMH ΔIKAIE | KEPΔOC EKTIKW | [ΔI]ΔOY: "Righteous Hermes, bring profit to Hektikos!"
A Greek graffito in a presumed hotel in the House of the Charioteers. Photo: Francis Brenders.

The Baths of Perseus and the Baths of the Lighthouse may have been used by people returning from a tomb to the south of Ostia, or working in a profession that was related to the funerals. This might be inferred from a statue of Perseus holding the head of Medusa found in the former baths (inv. nr. 99), and from a large mosaic depiction of the lighthouse of Claudius that gave the latter baths its name. This suggestion is discussed further in the topic The area around the Porta Laurentina.

Visits to baths are mentioned explicitly in one inscription from Ostia, the funerary inscription of (Fannia?) Sebotis. Heikki Solin remarks: "What is striking is the cognomen Sebotis, which is not found anywhere else and can be neither Latin nor Greek. It is all the more striking as the bearer of the name was freeborn; foreign, "barbaric" names are rare among freeborn Roman women".

[D(is)] M(anibus) [---]NIA P(ubli) F(ilia) SEBOTIS Q(uintus) MINVCIVS Q(uinti) F(ilius) PAL(atina tribu) MARCELLVS CONIVGI CARISSIMAE PIENTISSIM(ae) CASTISS(imae) CONIVGALI QVAE NVMQVAM SINE ME IN PVBL ICVM AVT IN BALINEVM AVT VBICVMQ(ue) IRE VOLVIT QVEM VIRGINE(m) DVXI ANN(orum) XIIII EX QVA FILIA(m) HABEO CVM QVA TEMPVS DVLCE{m} LVMINIS VIDI QVAE ME FELICEM FECIT SET EGO MALLEBAM VIVERES ILLA ERAT MEA FELICITAS SI TE SVPERSTITE(m) RELIQVISS(em) V(ixit) ANN(is) XXI M(ensibus) II D(iebus) XXI

For the souls departed. [---]nia Sebotis, daughter of Publius. Quintus Minucius Marcellus, son of Quintus, of the Palatinian tribe, to his most dear, most dutiful, most chaste wife, who never wanted to go without me to a public place or to the baths or anywhere at all, whom I married as a young girl of 14 years, from whom I have a daughter, with whom I have seen the sweet time of life, who made me happy. However, I would prefer that you were alive. She was my happiness. If only I had left you surviving. She lived 21 years, 2 months, 21 days.

Found in the neighbourhood of Ostia. Private collection, The Netherlands. EDR080282. Translation: after Sijpesteijn 1987 and Solin 1987.

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