Level 3 - Life in Roman Sussex - Personal Life-style

Personal Life-style

Personal hygiene

Personal hygiene was of some importance in the Roman world, and was attended to both at home in private, and at the public baths. Although bathing was a regular social event (see Leisure & Entertainment), its prime function was to cleanse the individual. The usual procedure in public bathhouses was for strenuous exercise in the gymnasium, possibly followed a cold plunge bath. The next stage took place in the warm room, where olive oil was massaged into the body. This was followed by a spell in the hot sweat room or bath, where a slave would scrape off the dirt, grease and oil with a strigil such as the illustrated example from East Sussex. Afterwards, the bather would return through the rooms, ending back in the cold bath, in order to close the pores, and - in the British climate - to avoid a chill.

Personal sets of toilet articles (chatelaines), consisting of scoops, tweezers, and nail cleaners, were essential items for many women, and are common finds on Romano-British sites. Less common were combs, although this is probably because most of them were made of wood and so have rotted away. Other items of personal grooming included razors, used by men and women for ridding unwanted hair, although the latter probably more commonly used tweezers.