Words on Wednesdays: Beauty

‘A thing of beauty is a joy for ever’

John Keats

Health and beauty were considered important for Romans. They wanted to make themselves look as good as they could. From bathing in the public bathhouse to wearing glamorous jewellery, they put a lot of effort into maintaining their health and beauty.  I chose some interesting objects that are in the Roman Baths collection on the subject of hygiene and jewellery and set up a handling table for visitors by the Great Bath.

Handling Roman objects by the Great Bath

First of all, hygiene. The most popular object I had on the table was the pocket toilet set including ear-scoop, nail-cleaner and tweezers. Romans carried this toilet set on their belt or in a little bag to the bathhouse.

Left to Right: Tweezers, nail cleaner and ear scoop

We can’t talk about Roman beauty without mentioning hairstyles. Roman women had elaborate hairstyles. They copied complicated hairstyles from coins or statues of the empress or important people. Many hairstyles required some hair pins made of bone or metal to keep the hair in place. Some even added hair pieces, and others wore wigs made from real hair. Slaves had to curl and pin the hair of their mistress. On the handling table, there was a bone hair pin and a beautifully preserved wooden comb on our handling table. Visitors loved the 2000 years old comb which was found in the Sacred Spring on our site.

Left to right: bone hair pin and wooden comb

Last but not least is Roman jewellery. Finger-rings, bracelets, earrings, and necklaces were the most common items which completed their outfit. Brooches had a utilitarian function as clothes fasteners, however, we can assume that they also a decoration by looking at various designs of brooches. On our handling table, I had a copper alloy bow-brooch and its replica which helped to imagine what it might have looked like back in Roman times. Children enjoyed bow-brooch making activity using metallic card paper.

Left to right: Bow brooch and replica

Bow brooch craft activity

Although it was a replica, one of my favourite objects was a little ring-key. This key shaped ring was an actual key to lock caskets or strong boxes. Visitors were amazed by this clever solution for security.

Replica ring-key

There are more objects on display at the Roman Baths which I strongly recommend you come to see. I wonder if you can spot the little display of an intricate penannular brooch (circle shaped brooch) near the King’s Bath on your visit.

Seohee
Placement Student

수요일의 한 줄: 로마시대의 아름다움

‘아름다움은 영원한 기쁨이다’-존 키츠의 시 엔디미온(Endymion) 중

건강과 아름다움을 유지하는 것은 로마인들에게 매우 중요했답니다. 그들은 할 수 있는 한 아름답게 자기자신을 가꾸려고 했어요. 대중 목욕탕에서 목욕을 하는 것부터 화려한 장신구를 착용하는 것까지 많은 노력을 기울였어요. 저는 로만 바스 박물관 컬렉션에서 로마시대의 아름다움과 관련된 유물들을 골라 수요일 저녁 Great Bath옆에 방문객들이 직접 만져볼 수 있는 핸들링 테이블을 마련했답니다. 물론 금속으로 된 것들이라 작은 상자 안에 각각 넣어두긴 했지만요.

핸들링 테이블

먼저, 위생과 관련된 유물. 가장 인기가 많았던 유물은 귀이개, 손톱 클리너, 족집게였어요. 로마인들은 이것들을 고리에 연결하여 밸트에 달거나 작은 가방에 넣어 목욕탕에 가곤 했대요.

왼쪽부터 족집게, 손톱 클리너, 귀이개

로마시대의 아름다움에 대해 이야기할 때 빼놓을 수 없는 것이 헤어스타일이예요. 로마시대 여성들은 굉장히 정교한 헤어스타일을 갖고 있었는데요, 동전이나 조각상에서 여제나 귀족 여성들의 헤어스타일이 유행을 선도했다고 해요. 복잡하게 땋고 틀어 올린 헤어스타일을 유지하기 위해서는 많은 헤어핀이 필요했는데, 헤어핀들은 주로 동물의 뼈나 금속으로 만들어졌어요. 아름다운 헤어스타일을 완성하기 위해서 어떤 사람들은 헤어 피스를 붙이기도 했고 가발을 착용하기도 했다고 해요. 부잣집 여주인들은 하녀들에게 자신의 머리카락을 곱슬곱슬하게 만들고 헤어핀을 이용해 스타일을 만들도록 했어요. 수요일의 핸들링 테이블에 우리는 뼈로 만들어진 헤어핀, 그리고 아름답게 보존된 나무 빗을 전시했어요. 방문객들은 여기 로만 바스의 Sacred Spring에서 발견된 2000년된 빗을 굉장히 좋아했답니다.

외쪽부터 뼈 헤어핀, 나무 빗

마지막으로는 로마인들이 사랑했던 장신구입니다. 반지, 팔찌, 귀걸이 그리고 목걸이는 그 시대 사람들의 패션을 완성시켜주었던 가장 흔한 장신구예요. 브로치는 굉장히 느슨한 옷을 입었던 로마인들의 옷을 고정시켜주는 실용적인 기능을 갖고 있었지만, 화려하고 다양한 디자인의 브로치가 있었던 것을 보면 장식적인 역할도 했음을 짐작할 수 있어요. 우리의 핸들링 테이블에는 구리 합금으로 된 활모양의 브로치가 있었어요. 오랜 시간이 지난 금속 브로치라 변색이 되었지만, 우리가 갖고 있는 복제품은 당시에 얼마나 아름답고 반짝이는 브로치였는지 상상할 수 있게 해주었답니다. 어린이 방문객들은 우리가 준비한 활 모양 브로치 만들기 활동을 하며 즐거워했어요.

활 모양 브로치와 복제품

활 모양 브로치 만들기 활동

복제품이기는 하지만, 제가 가장 좋아했던 유물은 열쇠 반지였어요. 열쇠 모양으로 된 이 작은 반지는 실제로 로마인들이 작은 장식함이나 금고를 잠그는 열쇠로 쓰였다고 해요. 우리 테이블을 찾아준 많은 방문객들이 로마인들이 보안을 위해 만든 이 영리한 열쇠 반지를 보고 놀라워했답니다.

열쇠 반지 (복제품)

로만 바스 박물관에는 로마시대의 화려한 문화 유산을 느껴볼 수 있는 많은 유물들이 전시되어 있어요. 바스에 오실 일이 있다면 꼭 한 번 방문하길 추천합니다. 로만 바스에 오시면 King’s Bath 근처 작은 디스플레이 케이스에 아주 정교하고 아름다운 원형의 브로치가 있는데요, 한 번 찾아보시는 건 어떨까요?

The Games of Sulis

Nowadays, visitors to the Baths enjoy their chance to walk upon the stone trodden by Roman feet two thousand years ago; but did you know that, in the 1960s & ‘70s, there were regular events which gave people an even more intimate taste of ancient culture, allowing them to dine at a full Roman banquet around the baths themselves? 

An invitation to the very first of these, in the shape of a scroll with a wax seal and ribbon and entitled LUDI SULIS I JUNIUS MCMLXI (The Games of Sulis, 1^st June 1961), has recently been acquired by the Roman Baths:

The invitation to the Roman banquet

The invitation sets out full details of the ‘orgy’, from clothing and music to décor and food, interspersed with quotes from poets such as Tibullus and Propertius, and even begins with a specially-composed, three-verse Latin poem, inviting the guests to the feast:

The invitation’s heading, including the Latin invitatory poem

The first two verses imagine the invitee as a weary ploughman or shepherd, enticed to take rest under a tree, sate their thirst and be lulled to sleep. The final verse invites the guest to a rather less tranquil affair, as can be seen by a possible translation:

But if you prefer a ladle of Falernian wine with water, or an beautiful girl to a disgusting sheep, seize the lavish joys of the night with the orgies of Sulis.

Every invitee was required to attend in full Roman attire to make the atmosphere more authentic, the men therefore being given a purple toga on arrival, the women a stola (a long, sleeveless dress). Together with the invitation was a photograph (see below) showing some guests in their outfits. The women’s hair is arranged in Roman style, in accordance with the invitation’s suggestion that they ‘imitated Cypassis’, an ‘expert in ornamenting hair in a thousand fashions’ (ponendis in mille modos perfecta capillis, Ovid Amores II.8).

Guests to Ludi Sulis in their Roman attire of toga or stola

Each item of food in the gustatio (hors d’oeuvres), fercula (roast) and mensa secunda (dessert) was an authentic Roman delicacy. These ranged from tunny fish, snails, honey cakes and stuffed pastry birds to a complete roast pig, which greeted the guests as they arrived to sit on cushions around the Great Bath.

Organisers even took inspiration from Cena Trimalchionis (Trimalchio’s Feast), part of Petronius’ Satyricon (often considered one of the earliest ‘novels’, written in the 1^st century AD), in setting up a ‘table of delicacies’. Guests were advised to decline these, seeing as they included things like nightingales’ tongues, flamingos’ brains and sows’ udders!

The feast was accompanied by music adapted from surviving Greek fragments and performed on lyres and recorders (the double flute or tibia being deemed too unwieldy to play). The after-dinner entertainment was decidedly more modern: guests were serenaded on the terrace by Nero and the Gladiators, a 1960s rock band!

According to a newspaper article from 1990 written about it, the event was organised by Mrs B. Robertson and Mrs V. Crallan to raise money for the Bath Festival. Tickets cost four guineas, and a film crew was even paid to record the event, on the condition that the cameramen must enter into the spirit of things by donning togas too! The event quickly morphed into ‘Roman Rendezvous’ nights, and many people remember being allowed to swim in the Great Bath before dancing in the Pump Room.

Acquisitions come from many different sources, such as donations, purchases or transfers - but it’s always fascinating to receive evidence of the colourful history of the Baths’ use through time.

Jack

Collections Volunteer 

Tuesday Time Table - Roman Textiles

The variety of cloth in the Roman period was not as diverse as today. The Romans only had cloth made from both animal and vegetable fibre, i.e. wool, silk, flax and cotton. Their availability determined their value, for example, as silk cocoons were difficult to find silky cloth was very expensive.

Now for a little bit on how the people of the past created thread and how they made cloth. The Romans used mainly five or six different sources of material to make thread. The most common was wool, which is made from a sheep’s fleece, carded using combs and then spun using a drop spindle.

Mulberry Moth

Silk is also an animal fibre, is spun by an insect called the mulberry moth. When it is a caterpillar it eats the leaves of the mulberry tree and weaves a cocoon of silk thread around itself. Man releases this thread by boiling the cocoons.

Combing Flax

Obtaining thread from flax and hemp is a more labour intensive process. Fibres are taken from the stems of these two plants by submerging them in water and then by beating the dried stems. These two phases soften the hard outer stem which can then be removed more easily. They are then combed and spun into a thread. While hemp was a fibre of low value more suitable for ropes and linen, the cloth made from flax fibre was a luxurious fabric often worn by priests.

Cotton Flower

Cotton comes from the cotton plant. As it ripens woollen seed balls form and they are then picked by hand. This fibre, like wool, is then carded and spun to obtain a thread. Cotton was a rare and luxurious fabric in the Roman period and it was imported from India and southern Egypt.

Roman Loom

Using a loom, a number of threads are then woven together to make cloth. The loom is the frame that supports the threads as they are being woven together. Looms come in different shapes and sizes and they can look different as they eveolved through the centuries to suit the nature and size of the cloth being produced.

Woven Cloth

[For more on spinning see http://www.bathsbloggers.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/spinning-yarn.html ]

Spinning a Yarn.....

As promised, here is more about the Roman Spindle whorl, but first a little history…

A frieze on the Forum Palladium in Rome features a series of bas-reliefs of women spinning thread using the spindle whorl. This goes to show that spinning was a common activity for Roman women, girls and female slaves. Although the spindle whorl was used in creating thread for clothes and textiles, it was also used as a sacrifice to the gods and would sometimes be carried in bridal processions. The act of spinning was also associated to women coming of age and, in the myth of the 3 Fates, each thread spun by the women hold the life of every man’s past, present and future. Interestingly, in rural districts of Italy, the women were forbidden to spin when travelling on foot because it was considered an evil omen.

So, how do you use this object? Here is a fun step by step guide;

The spindle whorl normally consists of a stick of 10 or 12 inches long (spindle) and a circular weight (whorl). Spindle whorls are made from various materials - wood, stone, ceramics or metal.

Spindle Whorl

Imagine if you have the spindle whorl…

1) With your two hands, take a piece of wool and rub it together to form a long strand. Tie one end near the whorl and the other on the top of the staff (there should be a slit or catch). The weight of the whorl should help spinning.

1

2) Hold the wool in your left hand and, with your right hand, spin the spindle whorl. Let the spindle whorl weight draw the spindle down, drawing out the thread.

2

3) Once reaching the ground, take it out of the slit and wind onto the spindle. Replace the thread in the slit and twist out another length. Repeat.

3

Congratulations, you are spinning!

A Question of Soles

For my Tuesday Time Table, I explored Roman civilian shoes. I studied a collection of leather soles found on Walcot Street and used modern replicas to show usage and construction.

Finding well-preserved organic material, such as leather, is great because it often doesn’t survive, due to various geological factors, such as acidic soil. In the case of the Walcot Street pit, a clay layer allowed the leather to stay damp and preserved.

I have been looking at two main types of shoe: The ‘Carbatina’ and the ‘Calceus’. Both types of shoe would have been worn as outdoor shoes, covering most of the foot. The soles show evidence of hobnailing - providing protection for the soles against the damp ground.

The stereotypical image of a Roman wearing sandals and a toga is not a Romano-British one - would you wear sandals in the middle of a British winter?! In Rome, flip-flop like ‘Solea’ were worn as house shoes, although in Rome it was deemed uncivilised to wear sandals with a toga.

The collection of shoe pieces found at Walcot Street also contains evidence of Roman ‘Soccus’, a slipper-type shoe. It is also likely that Romano-British wore socks under their Calcei to keep their feet warm.

A Man wearing Soccus

It is believed that Walcot Street pit was situated near a cobbler’s shop and this would explain the large quantity of shoe soles and leather offcuts.

Hobnailed sole

Mystery Sole: This collection of soles lacks the evidence for house shoes, as most of the soles are hobnailed. This poses an important question: did the Romano-British buck the trend and go barefoot in the home?

I believe it more likely that they wore Soccus or cloth socks instead of Solea, which wouldn’t have kept the feet warm. The fragile nature of these cloth shoes would mean that they were less likely to have been preserved in the pit.



Make your own Carbitina!


Georgina - Roman Baths Volunteer