HSC Ancient History - Health, baths, water supply and sanitation To assume knowledge about previous concepts in ancient

civilisations can be quite a controversial issue and the accuracy will always be sufficiently limited. However with the use of sources the knowledge one may discover about ancient civilisations can be improved as evidence has been preserved for later research to take place. Certain sources uncovered at Pompeii and Herculaneum as well as other cities surrounding Mt Vesuvius, can provided detailed evidence about what life consisted of all those years ago. By looking at human remains, one can understand the level of health at Pompeii and Herculaneum. Other sources such as the floor plan of baths and infrastructure of aqueducts and streets allows in depth discoveries about baths, water supply and sanitation. Health

Image 1) Plaster cast of a victim Image 2) X-ray scan of Lady of Oplontis Human Remains left by the eruption of Mt Vesuvius Health at Pompeii and Herculaneum around 79 AD was viewed in the one dynamic state, being the absence of physical illness. This meaning of health can be explored through the human remains left by the volcanic eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79 AD. Archaeologists Dr. Estelle Lazer and Dr. Sara Bisel have produced remarkable knowledge through the studies of human remains and consequently due to plaster casts which Giuseppe Fiorelli had developed. These casts of people and their bones which they left behind indicate that the level of health at Pompeii and Herculaneum was remarkably good. The citizens had access to a wide variety of food sources due to their location and ability to import certain ingredients as transportation was easily accessible due to the positions of each city. The bones found in the sites were still in good condition and the dimensions of the bones indicate sufficient information to support the statement that people had high standards of health as they were able to grow to their full potential. The average height of a male was around 167cm whereas the female average was at 155cm. Therefore it can be viewed that individuals were able to grow to an acceptable height when compared with other people from various cities across the continents. This sufficient supply of nutrients, lead to the understanding that citizens were able to maintain their dental quality also. Bisels studies reveal that the teeth were in quite excellent condition as they benefited from the high seafood diet and combination of high calcium intake. However there was indication of tooth decay and gum disease which may have been from the causation of basalt grindstone which was used in flour and commonly consumed in bread. Lazer had uncovered evidence that various bodies had once encountered a hormonal disease or HFI (hyperostosis frontalis internal) found commonly in menopausal women. This was due to an increase Louise McKeon Year 12 Assessment task 1 Mr Hayes

in the bone density of the skull behind the frontal bone; around 11% of bodies resembled this disease. An x-ray of a skeleton also known as Lady of Oplontis, showed that there was a fracture in the left radius and had healed in an irregular state with some prominent arthritic occurrences. It can be observed that medical intervention was not a common occurrence when one becomes injured in Pompeii or Herculaneum and people may have been inclined to aid themselves in order to recover. Further archaeological evidence showed many houses contained tools that could be associated with medical appliances. This supported the notion that people were self inclined to treat themselves. The water that ran into the fountains and basins at Pompeii and Herculaneum were supplied through lead pipes. This became a health hazard as promoted by Alex Butterworth and Ray Laurence that lead poisoning may have affected the overall health of a citizen at Pompeii or Herculaneum. Another health problem that was discovered through human remains was Malta fever which is a sort of typhoid that was found in goats milk. This spread from the goats of Malta through trade to Italy therefore affecting the health of citizens at Pompeii. Therefore the knowledge of health at Pompeii and Herculaneum was not incredibly advanced by todays standards, however if they had knowledge of it or not they consumed the accurate intake of nutrients and were able to sustain a relatively healthy aspect of life.

Louise McKeon Year 12 Assessment task 1 Mr Hayes

Baths Floor Plan of the Bath houses. Forum Bath in Herculaneum

It was accustomed for a citizen, especially those of hierarchal status who lived in Pompeii and Herculaneum around 79 AD to regularly attend the bathing activities. These baths are extremely diverse from the known aspect of bathing today. Bathing still maintained its core purpose to clean and sustain a hygienic aspect, however the baths were crucial as a social and leisure concept. Baths were opened at midday, once the furnaces were lit in the morning and many people made their regular journey to the baths. Public baths were located throughout both cities and they contained separate female and male facilities by which the females and males attended at differing hours. However the private baths such as Julia Felixs one, were quite rare in numbers as it contradicts the main reasoning of the bathing experience being a social means of gathering. Being at a bath, peoples social status became slightly irrelevant as one could communicate with anyone who attended that bath. At Herculaneum there were two core bath houses which were the Forum Bath and Suburban Bath. The Suburban Baths were slightly more upper class baths and are situated outside of the town closer to the sea and highly enforce the knowledge that the baths were mainly for a sociable leisure activity. The Stabian baths date back as the oldest baths and considerably the largest baths at Pompeii. The Stabian baths were one of the four main public bathing houses at Pompeii, the others consisted of the Forum Baths, Central Baths and the Amphitheatre Baths. The Forum Baths have shown detailed stucco work on the walls and ceilings, mosaics covered the floor and an aquatic, sea theme dominated as Pompeii is a coastal location. The Herculaneum Baths Louise McKeon Year 12 Assessment task 1 Mr Hayes

provided a large triton producing serpents spiralling amongst the triton. The floor plan providing specific evidence to what may have occurred at the bath houses and how the process of bathing actually happened. It has been recognised through this floor plan of the baths that there was a common process when one was participating in this leisure activity. The first stage was known as the apodyterium which was the changing and waiting room and an individual was able to store their clothes and items on shelves located around the room. Caldarium or hot room which could potentially reach up to 40 degrees Celsius was a vaulted steamer and this was the next step when one was bathing. It held up to ten people and consisted of a rectangular heated bath or alverus and at the other end, another large circular tub or labrum for cold water bathing was situated so someone was able to alternate between ranging temperatures for comfort. A bather would then subsequently move onto the Iaconicum room or sweating room which also may have been incorporated with the tepidarium. The Tepidarium was a room where an individuals body could adjust to temperatures similarly like a transition room. Finally the bather would travel into the Frigidarium area which consisted with a cold circular bath that would close the pores of the skin. Baths were heated by a specific heating process that was stimulated by a charcoal burning furnace and the hot air would rise from under the marble floor. Bathers were able to wear wooden sandals in order to walk across the hot floor. The floor was raised approximately 70-90 centimetres on brick pillars or suspensure. The furnace was situated at the back of the Caldarium between both male and female baths. The location of the furnace from the floor plans indicates that the rooms proximate to it are clearly the rooms that became the hottest. They had even thought of a way to prevent the condensation of water bothering the bathers by creating small groves in the ceiling which collected all the water and turned it towards the walls where it was able to run down away then from dripping directly onto people. Not only could bathers have the luxury of a pleasurable baths but they were seen as a therapeutic resource, physical exercise regime, receiving vital invitations and participate in important business matters. The Baths however were not always a tranquil place. It can be constructed through other cities across the Italian Peninsula that sexual behaviour was accustomed as a reoccurring aspect. The Baths provided an ideal place for prostitution as pornographic graffiti implies these sexual misconducts. Through the floor plan of the Forum Baths at Pompeii one can identifying what may have happened at these day to day activities. It helps conjure an image of what the baths may have looked like and how people could be socially accepted as they were basically stripped down from their normal clothes that identified their hierarchal positions.

Louise McKeon Year 12 Assessment task 1 Mr Hayes

Water Supply and Sanitation

Image 1) Water Tower at Pompeii. Image 2) Pompeian Street archaeological infrastructure uncovered from the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79AD Water is essential for human survival and therefore needed to be a constant resource for the citizens of Pompeii and Herculaneum. They had devised a system which received water from the Acquaro springs about 26 kilometres away. During the reign of Augustus was when this sufficient supply of water was in place and can be seen through the remaining structures of Aqueducts which dispensed water into reservoirs that stored the water once it travelled down the mountains. One reservoir or water tower known as the castellum aquae, collected stored and distributed the water throughout the towns into three main pipes. Lead pipes laid below the streets dispersed the water to the fountains, baths, latrines and private homes of citizens. The Castellum Aquae was one of the core water tanks and stood next to the Vesuvian Gate which helped regulate the supply of water. Porta Vesuvio is the highest point of Pompeii which was where the reservoirs were located due to the vital reason of gravity. Gravity was the main contributors that assisted the distribution of water among the city of Pompeii and Herculaneum as the land sloped downwards towards the sea. It became easy to move the water, as a constant pressure could be sustained and also an increasing one created. There are forty-two fountains that constantly released water in Pompeii and three in Herculaneum commonly located at street corners. These fountains had quite intricate detail on them displaying patrons. One significant fountain is made from limestone in contrast to other fountains being carved from a lower quality stone. This fountain is situated at the crossroads to the Forum and the Via DellAbbondanza showing the goddess Fortuna. Fountains may have symbolised neighbourhoods of the city and essentially what sort of people could live in different neighbourhoods. Such fountains could represent the different god or goddess and demonstrate the status according to the amount of detail or material used to create it.

Louise McKeon Year 12 Assessment task 1 Mr Hayes

About fourteen water towers have been uncovered and they are quite high in order to secure an accurate pressure for the distribution of water. As there are so many, it can be assumed that individuals valued their access to water and saw the need for water to be equally accessible for all. The water supply also contributed to the sanitation processes. In Pompeii there was an opened drainage system which consequently made Pompeii quite an unhygienic and demisable place to live in. The running water would simply carry the excrements along ruts in streets out into cesspits. However Herculaneum had devised a more logical idea having an underground sewerage system, making the city more hygienic and liveable. Public and private latrines are located throughout both cities. These latrines were known as foricae, commonly situated in the Forum and Palaestra for access to anyone. In Pompeii the latrines lead to a sewer in the street and basically flowed down the street with the rain water or the overflow from the water supply. It can be evident through archaeological discoveries that this was a common problem in Pompeii. There were large stepping stones to assist citizens in crossing the road with the slowly passing wastes obstructing their paths. The stepping stones were constructed so that ancient wagons could easily pass over them. In Herculaneum the latrines were connected to underground sewerage systems beneath the roads and therefore had fewer stepping stones to that of Pompeii. The underground drainage system carried the sewerage waste as well as rainwater out into the sea. This occurred due to the steeper gradient of the land at Herculaneum and gravity played its vital role in enabling the underground drainage to work effectively. Privacy was not a dominating issue in Pompeii and Herculaneum as there were no individual cubicles where one may go to do their usual business. The latrines uncovered in excavations showed simple benches some being marble, with holes continually running down the bench. This meant that numerous amounts of people would simultaneously be sitting there above the flowing water depositing their wastes. Some private latrines that would only ever hold up to six people in the same time were found in the Villa Oplonti and could actually be flushed by hand or the constant supply from the aqueduct pipes to the house. Most latrines in private homes were positioned next to the kitchen or where food was prepared. One of the evident pieces of information one can gather from these architectural features was that many homes were linked to the water system in order to receive fresh running water. The people of Pompeii and Herculaneum took great pride in their water system as the earthquakes leading up as warning signals to the massive eruption had destroyed parts of the system. They were being repaired the day of the eruption.

In conclusion one can evaluate through the aqua technology at that time, there was quite advanced concepts and it therefore maintained a basic level of hygiene among the cities. The sewerage systems and public latrines are well preserved due to the protective layers from volcanic material and give stark evidence of how the society operated. The Pompeians and Herculaneums health was of high standard do the equipped nature of sanitation and water supply, but more likely of the sufficient diets of nutrients as studied by Lazer and Bisel.

Louise McKeon Year 12 Assessment task 1 Mr Hayes

Bibliography
Bradley,P.(2005)Cities of Vesuvius Pompeii and Herculaneum.Melbourne:Cambridge University Press Zanker,P.(1998)Pompeii Public and Private Life.Amercia:unknown. Hurley, T.Medcald, P.Murray,C.Rolph,I.(2008)Third Edition Antiquity 2 Interpreting the Past.Melbourne:Oxford University Press Unknown(2006).Arcane History Sanitation, Health and Water in Ancient Pompeii and Herculaneum [Internet]Available from: http://arcanehistory.com/?p=50[21/11/09] Unknown(2008).Ancient Pompeii and Herculaneum.[Internet].Available from:http://digg.com/educational/Sanitation_and_Health_in_Ancient_Pompeii_and_Herculaneum( accessed on 22/11/09) Unknown.(2008)Water Supply-Aqueducts[Internet]Available from:http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/aqueducts/p/RomanWater.htm(accessed on 22/11/09) Unknown.(2005)Water Supply Systems: Reseviors and Aqueducts.[Internet]Available from:http://idarchserve.ucsb.edu/arthistory/152k/water.html.(accessed on 28/11/09) Unknown.(2009)Pompeii Thermal Baths .[Internet]Available fromLhttp://www.pompeionline.net/pompeii/baths.htm(accessed on 21/11/09)

Louise McKeon Year 12 Assessment task 1 Mr Hayes