Dirty laundry
The Baths of Caracalla in Rome (3 minute preview, 6 minute read)
If I wasn’t a little obsessed with all things watery, I’d never have developed an interest in ancient Rome. When I was young, I had a book on everyday life in the Roman Empire, and I knew every watery page. There were pictures of aqueducts and information about Roman skills in supplying fresh water to their cities. There was a page which showed a villa, complete with impluvium – a pool which collected rainwater in the centre of the atrium or central court of the villa. But best of all was the page showing the baths.
I returned to that illustration of the baths again and again. There were small pools – a series of hot pools in the steamy caldarium and the plunge pool in the chilly frigidarium. There was a pool in the tepidarium which seemed to be as much for socialising as bathing. There were fountains and cascades too, in room after room where water flowed with the abundance of a West Coast waterfall.The Romans were obsessed with their baths. They weren’t only places for keeping clean, they were a centre of social life.
As a child, I thought that visiting real Roman baths would be wonderful. As an adult, I know too much about the Roman empire to want to get any closer than 2000 years away. Although I still find it fascinating, it was also far darker than books aimed at eight-year-olds can possibly convey. Even the history I learned studying Latin as a teenager was highly sanitised. The Romans were ingenious in their ability to manage water, they were masters with marble and champions with concrete, but I’m glad they’re consigned to history1.
I have, however, had the chance to visit the ruins of Rome’s largest baths, the Baths of Caracalla. In 2022, I travelled to Europe as part of my work with the International Pest Risk Research Institute, so I added on a little time staying in Rome, where I have a friend with a spare bedroom. I love Rome – I’ve been lucky enough to visit several times and each time I find more to fascinate me. Even though I’m more into forests than large cities, Rome is something special.
It’s also intimidating. The traffic is insane and there’s any number of people out to extract money, lawfully or unlawfully, from unwary tourists. The first couple of times I visited, I was even nervous to walk down the street and buy a bottle of water. But then one of my relatives, who lived for some years in Florence, showed me how Italian women carry their handbags. After that, everything became easier.
The typical tourist in Rome has a bag with a long strap which runs across their body, making sure that the bag is in the front. Others carry backpacks, but wear them on their front. Neither looks remotely stylish and instantly marks the wearer out as a tourist. Italian women, on the other hand, carry their handbags over their shoulder, something tourists avoid because of the fear of someone snatching their bag. I was told that Italian women avoid this by making sure that the length of the strap is such that the bag is held firmly under their arm and the strap sits snugly against their body.
Before my 2022 trip, I went through various handbags in my cupboard and found the perfect one to use. It had a strap of the right length, it was orange so it went with all my clothes and it was an inexpensive one that one of my friends had found for me at an op-shop2. If I did lose it, it wouldn’t be a disaster.
Armed with the right handbag, I’ve found myself far more confident travelling. I don’t look like a tourist clutching expensive travel gear. I’ll never blend in – Italians are far too fond of wearing black, grey and brown, and I’m not – but I look as if I know what I’m doing.
On this visit to Rome, I decided to start by visiting places close to where I was staying, which was across the road from Otiense station, to the south of the central city. On my previous visit to Rome, I’d spent a week working on a report for the Food and Agriculture Organisation, a 15 minute walk towards the city. From there, I’d seen the Baths of Caracalla, so I knew that they weren’t too far away.