For me, degenerate modern wretch, Though in the genial month of May, My dripping limbs I faintly stretch And think I've done a feat to-day.
But, since he cross'd the rapid tide, According to the doubtful story, To woo—and—Lord knows what beside, And swam for love, as I for glory.
'Twere bard to say who fared the best ; Sad mortals I thus the gods still plague you! He lost his labour, I my jest ; For he was drown'd and I've the ague.
All students of history are well acquainted with the noble deed of the brave Roman soldier Horatius Codes, who with his two comrades, Spurius Lartius and Herminius, defended the passage against the Tuscan host while their countrymen were hewing away the bridge that connected the river's banks. His co-defenders escaped across the bridge when it was falling, and Horatius was left alone fac;ng the troops of Lars Porsena. The scene which followed has been vividly related by Macaulay, in his Lays of Ancient Rome' : Never, I weep, did swimmer, In such an evil case, Struggle through such a raging flood, Safe to the landing place.
But his limbs were borne up bravely, By the Drave heart within, And our good father Tiber Bore bravely up his chin.
In commemoration of the services of Horatius Codes a statue was raised in his honour by the Consul Publicola. The Roman ladies not only enjoyed their daily bath, but evidently made swimming a study, as is evidenced by the fact that CL.Tlia, a Roman virgin, who was given with other maidens as hostages to Porsena, escaped from the kingdom of Etruria and swam across the Tiber to Rome, where a statue was afterwards erected in her honour.
The captive maids there tempt the raging tide, 'Soaped from their chains, with Clxlia for their guide.
Bathing was regarded as a daily duty by the Romans. According to Fabricius, there were no fewer than eight hundred and fifty public baths in Rome and its environs. Some of these baths were of the most luxurious description, and were of such immense proportions that over a thousand persons could be accommodated in them. They were used by the highest personages in the empire, and the emperors them selves were not above mixing with their subjects. According to Pliny, the baths were open at 8 in the winter and 9 in the summer, but Vitruvius says the principal time of bathing was from noon until the evening. The bathers were anointed with oil scented by herbs, and when Julius Caesar died he left a large quantity of oil annually to the bathers of Rome. The price of admission was small. In the time of Horace it was only the fourth of an as (quadrans), half a farthing, and Gibbon tells us that the meanest Roman could purchase with a small copper coin the daily enjoyment of a scene of pomp and luxury which excited the envy of the kings of Asia.
The famous Roman baths were those of Caracalla, Dio cletian, Agrippa, Trajan, Titus, &c. The excavations made at Pompeii have also revealed the fact that bathing was almost a passion with the Romans, and that towards the decline of the empire the baths became more luxurious than ever. The baths erected by Aurelius Antoninus Bassianus, nicknamed Caracalla, may be taken as a typical example. Professor Aitchison, R.A., in his Royal Academy lectures on archi tecture in 1889, gave some very interesting particulars relating to SWIMMING to this and the other large baths in Rome. Caracalla's bath was completed by him in 217 A.D., and the building was restored about 500 A.D. by Theodoric. The whole enclosure consisted of an oblong square, with large flat apses on each flank, and was about x,xo8 ft. long, exclusive of the apses, by 1,o6o ft. deep, exclusive of the reservoirs. It was about a mile round, and contained nearly 1,293,192 ft., or about 29i acres, with an additional space of one and a half acre for reservoirs. The tanks were capable of containing about gallons of water. The main building was about 716 ft. long by 367 ft. deep, with a semicircular projection at the back, 164 ft. in diameter. There was a gymnasium on either side, with front and two side entrances to each. The centre, or bath portion, had two large entrances, with a large swimming bath between them. Professor Aitchison inclines to the belief that this swimming bath was covered over and glazed. Some idea of the magnitude of the building is given by the same authority. He says that it was about 15o ft. shorter than the river front of the English Houses of Parliament, and about 92 ft. deeper, exclusive of the apse. It had 1,600 polished seats for bathers, and was fitted in such a style of magnificence that an almost incredible sum must have been spent on its erection. The grounds at the rear of the main building were laid out with trees and walks, with open spaces and seats.
These Roman baths were termed therince, and were used for various purposes. There were cold, tepid, warm, hot, vapour, and swimming baths, gymnasia, open spaces for ball games and exercises, lecture-rooms, halls for discussions, schools for professional athletes, &c. Vast stores of oil, perfumes, dust for athletes, wood and pitch for the fires, and towels, had to be maintained, and an army of slaves to attend to the require ments of bathers, and assist in the management of these stu pendous undertakings.
In comparison with the size of the buildings, the swimming tanks, in the majority of cases, seem to have been very small