The Roman Hypocaust: A Greek Export

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  • 5000 BCE

    Kang

    Ancient Chinese heating system. Hot air from the kitchen fire flows through flues under the floor. Bean, Robert, Bjarne W. Olesen, and Kwang Woo Kim. "History of Radiant Heating & Cooling Systems." ASHRAE Journal 52 (2010): 40-47. GALE: Educators Reference Complete. Accessed March 5, 2017.
  • 1000 BCE

    Ondol

    Korean, underfloor, radiant heating system. Hot air from a kitchen stove passes through flues above which are placed flat stones. The floor, made of a thick, oiled paper, is then placed on the stones.
    The oldest archaeological evidence for the system comes from the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.
    • Bean, Robert, Bjarne W. Olesen, and Kwang Woo Kim. "History of Radiant Heating & Cooling Systems." ASHRAE Journal 52 (2010): 40-47. GALE: Educators Reference Complete. Accessed March 5, 2017.
  • Period: 300 BCE to 90 BCE

    Proto-hypocaust Systems

    Over this period, hypocaust systems are seen developing through out the Western world, first in Greece and then spreading to both Campania and Egypt.
    Most heating systems consist of a heated cylindrical cavity beneath the floor and lack developed tubuli (the hollowed bricks that form flues for hot air to escape in advanced Roman baths).
    No standardized full hypocaust seems to have developed, however.
  • 250 BCE

    Greek Baths at Gortys

    These Greek baths are the oldest example of heated relaxation baths utilizing an annular proto-hypocaust supported at the center by a sole pillar. Further, the proto-hypocaust was complete with hollow walls, predating the Roman tubuli.
    - Delaine in "Some Observations" and Fournet and Redon in "Heating Systems of Greek Baths."
  • 211 BCE

    Roman Urban Baths are Common

    In his play Rudens, Platus comments on baths and bathing. He presents the baths as facts of life and assumes a majority of his audience has firsthand experience with them, which he uses for comedic effect.
    His commentary describes the crowded conditions within the bath, the money spent there, and the fact that women did indeed take baths.
    "The Growth of the Bathing Habit" in Bathing in Public in the Roman World by Garrett G. Fagan, 45-46
  • 180 BCE

    Cumae Baths

    Poorly preserved; date is subject to debate; no evidence for a hypocaust system. "The Growth of the Bathing Habit" in Bathing in Public in the Roman World by Garrett G. Fagan, 57
  • 140 BCE

    Stabian Baths (Pompeii)

    Well preserved public baths excavated in Pompeii; date is widely agreed upon. Its early history can be reconstructed "as an evolution from a fifth-century BCE Greek bathhouse to a Roman-style facility by the second century BCE."
    - Eschebach, quoted in "The Growth of the Bathing Habit" in Bathing in Public in the Roman World by Garrett G. Fagan, 57
  • Period: 130 BCE to 91 BCE

    Asclepiades of Bithynia in Rome

  • 100 BCE

    Roman Hypocaust at Olympia, Greece

    A "new bathroom was added to the old complex, built of brick, with a fully brick brick hypocaust, a hot immersion pool and a lbarum in an apse; in other words, a standard Vitruvian caldarium" (Delain, "Some Observations," 122).
    Note that the date for the new bathroom, 100 BCE, is after the Roman conquest of Greece.
  • 100 BCE

    Sergius Orata "invents" the Hypocaust

    Sergius Orata is linked with the development of heated pools, mostly to grow oysters to further his trade. Is it possible that he systemized the Greek proto-hypocausts and implemented them into Roman society.
    In the textual record, however, he is best known for his oyster business, not his heating system.
    As I propose, Asclepiades of Bithynia adapted his "hanging pools" for medical his favorite medical treatment: a warm bath.
  • 100 BCE

    Taposiris Magna Baths (Egypt)

    Egyptian baths that were renovated around 100 BCE to include a proto-hypocaust with a heating hall similar to the ones at Gortys and Olympia.
    - Delaine in "Some Observations" and
    Fournet and Redon in "Heating Systems of Greek Baths.
  • Period: 100 BCE to 1 BCE

    Standardization of the Hypocaust

    Beginning in Campania, the hypocaust is standardized. By the time Vitruvius writes his ten books, the design is inextricably tied to bathing, included in a section on baths as opposed to heating.
    Further, Vitruvius lays out standardized dimensions for the pillars and the tiles of the hanging floor. As well, he stipulates the inward slope of the ground floor. Of note, Vitruvius does not mention tubuli.
  • 85 BCE

    Republican Baths (Pompeii)

    Late Republican Era baths built at Pompeii with a unique hypocaust. The suspensura or hanging floor is raised on walls with diagonal openings instead of pillars.
    - "The Growth of the Bathing Habit" in Bathing in Public in the Roman World by Garrett G. Fagan, 59
  • 60 BCE

    Heating for Guests

    Cicero, looking forward to a visit from Titus Atticus, his close friend, promises to have the baths heated before his arrival.
    "The Growth of the Bathing Habit" in Bathing in Public in the Roman World by Garrett G. Fagan, 50
    From Cicero's letters to Atticus, 2.3.4
  • 20 BCE

    Soldiers' Temporary Bath

    Roman soldiers in Holland constructed a temporary bath, complete with a hypocaust heated caldarium.
    "The Growth of the Bathing Habit" in Bathing in Public in the Roman World by Garrett G. Fagan, 56
  • Period: 15 BCE to 200

    Baths and Hypocausts Flurish

    In the early Imperial era, Roman public bathing takes off, as does the use of hypocausts.
    For example, stipulations at Pisa after the death of Augustus's son requires closing the public baths (note the use of the plural form).
    Roman baths, by 100 AD, are all across the empire, from Spain to Gaul to North Africa.
    "The Growth of the Bathing Habit" in Bathing in Public in the Roman World by Garrett G. Fagan, 54
  • 90

    Pliny's Laurentium Villa

    Pliny the Younger, in his letters, describes his private hypocaust that heats a corridor between his bedroom and his private study. Romans of considerable means, such as Pliny, could afford hypocausts for private use to heat toilet rooms and/or private baths.
  • 92

    Palace of Domitian

    Domitian's palace atop the Palatine Hill utilizes a hypocaust to heat the main triclinium.
  • 105

    Baths of Trajan

    Relatively developed heating system. Marks further growth of bathing popularity.
  • 215

    Baths of Caracalla

    Remarkably advanced heating system, both for heating spaces and heating the constant flow of water. 2nd largest public bath (thermae) in Rome.