Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am obsessed with many facets of history. Whenever I have visited ancient ruins it feels like I am walking in that time frame and I feel all giddy and light. As if to equate how my one life is but just one in the larger scheme of things.
I am a feeler. Psychologically turned on. Every year for a period of months I become obsessed with something and dig into that subject. One year it was Pompeii. And that led to my fascination with ancient baths.
See, ancient baths must have been commonplace in every culture. In my culture(ancient India) it was a staple of every city architecture. Many ruins right here in India(westerners are unaware, Indians are ignorant) are pretty intact just the way they were. I walked the ruins in Nalanda and could actually feel the water in it.
Ancient greeks had them. Ancient Romans had them in numbers(well documented) and perhaps even the Egyptians.
For me this isn't so much about sex in its purest form as its about how perfect the sensibilities were back then. Does anyone agree?
The citizens of Pompeii have been revealed as sophisticated, cultured people who enjoyed fine art, architecture, and the pleasures of the flesh. Their life stories have become a grand narrative of how to live joyfully in the present as if every day might be your last.
Did religion and morality destroy this facet of life?
Naked people sitting near the baths, soaking the sun.
The commercialization of sexuality which is used predominately in marketing for consumption of material goods and services drastically changes our view of these bathing practices many centuries ago.
For example, if someone were to visualize this happening today it would probably compare closely to having a swimming pool in a strip club, but in ancient Roman times sexuality was view much more complacently and as a natural occurring thing that everyone did and nakedness was not directly correlated with sex. People could see nakedness and not get turned on or feel repulsed.
This just shows us something that we have lost as a culture due to the use of sexuality to sell products.
My fantasy is to have my very own bath. Surrounded by lush trees and erotic statues. Erotic paintings-of which I have a sumptuous collection from every era of history, from every culture- will adorn the walls. In the middle will be my own bath, a sauna, if you may. And I will invite people and we will discuss philosophy and partake in activities.
Tell me about your understanding of ancient baths, your knowledge will be duly appreciated.
If prostitution is really the 'oldest profession' then sex was commercialized long before the current era.
According to Paul Johnson, Judaism happened to be very strict in sexual matters, whereas other religions/cultures at the time were not:
Quote:
Originally Posted by History of the Jews
For instance, the Ugaritic laws, revealed in the Ras Samra tablets, permitted fornication, adultery, bestiality and incest in certain circumstances. The Egyptians regarded consanguinity as relatively unimportant. The Israelites, by contrast, banned all irregular forms of sex....
So it is perhaps somewhat an accident of history that the West wound up with the attitudes we have towards sex. And since Mohammed was influenced by Judaism, it may be that attitudes in the Islamic world derive from the same source. I don't know that for sure, but it seems plausible.
The bath houses of classical Europe were essentially non-sexual institutions meant for hygeine and platonic socialization. Of course they were also an obvious locale for trysts; you could scope out 'the goods' while bathing and bath houses we usually pretty dimly lit with architecture that lent itself to creating private nooks. Unfortunately (or fortunately as the case may be) Imperial Rome established edicts against the mingling of genders in public baths.
This meant straight men and women had to de-stress in gardens and alleys.
I am obsessed with many facets of history. Whenever I have visited ancient ruins it feels like I am walking in that time frame and I feel all giddy and light. As if to equate how my one life is but just one in the larger scheme of things.
I am a feeler. Psychologically turned on. Every year for a period of months I become obsessed with something and dig into that subject. One year it was Pompeii. And that led to my fascination with ancient baths.
See, ancient baths must have been commonplace in every culture. In my culture(ancient India) it was a staple of every city architecture. Many ruins right here in India(westerners are unaware, Indians are ignorant) are pretty intact just the way they were. I walked the ruins in Nalanda and could actually feel the water in it.
Ancient greeks had them. Ancient Romans had them in numbers(well documented) and perhaps even the Egyptians.
For me this isn't so much about sex in its purest form as its about how perfect the sensibilities were back then. Does anyone agree?
The citizens of Pompeii have been revealed as sophisticated, cultured people who enjoyed fine art, architecture, and the pleasures of the flesh. Their life stories have become a grand narrative of how to live joyfully in the present as if every day might be your last.
Did religion and morality destroy this facet of life?
Naked people sitting near the baths, soaking the sun.
The commercialization of sexuality which is used predominately in marketing for consumption of material goods and services drastically changes our view of these bathing practices many centuries ago.
For example, if someone were to visualize this happening today it would probably compare closely to having a swimming pool in a strip club, but in ancient Roman times sexuality was view much more complacently and as a natural occurring thing that everyone did and nakedness was not directly correlated with sex. People could see nakedness and not get turned on or feel repulsed.
This just shows us something that we have lost as a culture due to the use of sexuality to sell products.
My fantasy is to have my very own bath. Surrounded by lush trees and erotic statues. Erotic paintings-of which I have a sumptuous collection from every era of history, from every culture- will adorn the walls. In the middle will be my own bath, a sauna, if you may. And I will invite people and we will discuss philosophy and partake in activities.
Tell me about your understanding of ancient baths, your knowledge will be duly appreciated.
I'm willing to bet people back then were also a lot thinner and literally more fit. They had to walk everywhere and everything was manual labor. So they probably didn't get to see a ton of plump or obese people. I'm willing to bet the public baths would be closed if people today showed up. They would probably mistake us for hogs kill us and turn us into sausage.
My fantasy is to have my very own bath. Surrounded by lush trees and erotic statues. Erotic paintings-of which I have a sumptuous collection from every era of history, from every culture- will adorn the walls. In the middle will be my own bath, a sauna, if you may. And I will invite people and we will discuss philosophy and partake in activities.
Or, you could spend an hour or so in the Spa Room of your local Swingers' Club.
I'm willing to bet people back then were also a lot thinner and literally more fit. They had to walk everywhere and everything was manual labor. So they probably didn't get to see a ton of plump or obese people. I'm willing to bet the public baths would be closed if people today showed up. They would probably mistake us for hogs kill us and turn us into sausage.
Many people who used the baths had slaves to do their labor, were ported about on litters, and considered eating a sport. I am sure there were plenty of chunky bathers. Then again bulimia was very popular, too.
I am obsessed with many facets of history. Whenever I have visited ancient ruins it feels like I am walking in that time frame and I feel all giddy and light. As if to equate how my one life is but just one in the larger scheme of things.
I am a feeler. Psychologically turned on. Every year for a period of months I become obsessed with something and dig into that subject. One year it was Pompeii. And that led to my fascination with ancient baths.
I am the American version of you! I didn't quote your whole post, but I think much the way you do. I am fascinated by history and when I learn about something I will delve into it and learn all I can about it. I have been fascinated with Pompeii since I first learned about it in 4th grade. I want to visit there someday, and also Greece and Egypt and Israel. I don't know what religion you are, but I am Christian. When I read in the Bible that the Garden of Eden was at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, I got a map and looked to see where that was and I wanted to go there and see it for myself. It is my understanding that that area is under water now.
It doesn't have to be ancient history, though. The land that my family settled on in 1830 is still in the family and my grandmother, great grandparents and great great grandparents, as well as other relatives I never met, are buried on the land. The house where my grandmother with her parents is still there, but falling down now. I never met her; she died before I was born. But I feel connected to her when I walk on the land she walked on, see the same views she saw.
I have always wished I could be a time traveler and see people long ago in their everyday lives. I don't need to talk to them, I just want to watch them and walk around and see what life was like.
When I visit American Indian ruins or see cave dwellings, I can imagine Indians living on the land, enjoying the same breeze and the same sun and the same views that I see now so many years later. The people come and go, live and die, but the land and the sun and the wind are the same.
I am the American version of you! I didn't quote your whole post, but I think much the way you do. I am fascinated by history and when I learn about something I will delve into it and learn all I can about it. I have been fascinated with Pompeii since I first learned about it in 4th grade. I want to visit there someday, and also Greece and Egypt and Israel. I don't know what religion you are, but I am Christian. When I read in the Bible that the Garden of Eden was at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, I got a map and looked to see where that was and I wanted to go there and see it for myself. It is my understanding that that area is under water now.
It doesn't have to be ancient history, though. The land that my family settled on in 1830 is still in the family and my grandmother, great grandparents and great great grandparents, as well as other relatives I never met, are buried on the land. The house where my grandmother with her parents is still there, but falling down now. I never met her; she died before I was born. But I feel connected to her when I walk on the land she walked on, see the same views she saw.
I have always wished I could be a time traveler and see people long ago in their everyday lives. I don't need to talk to them, I just want to watch them and walk around and see what life was like.
When I visit American Indian ruins or see cave dwellings, I can imagine Indians living on the land, enjoying the same breeze and the same sun and the same views that I see now so many years later. The people come and go, live and die, but the land and the sun and the wind are the same.
Thank you for that comment!
Yes, we are a certain type of people. Do others think you're crazy for having this fascination? People around me do. But then I've always been weird. Check one of my previous posts titled "A question to American people" wherein I state my desire to someday live somewhere in California, especially the Pacifica coast. Why?
Because I love the sunny, laid back feel I get from there. It is like taking life each second in the best possible way. Do read it.
And you are somewhat in luck.
I am a filmmaker and hopefully someday I want to make a series, or a T.V movie on something to do with history with free flowing camera. Get the picture?
For example I want to shoot a series on Pompeii where the camera is in a free flowing state wandering across the cities and among the people living their daily life, with their daily worries and chatters...right up until the eruption occurs(which I won't show). A 17 year old girl ruing over her failed romance, a potter trying to sell his utensils, a couple bickering. Anything. Ofcourse well researched and all that.
The theme is just a day in the life of an average Roman.
And perhaps many other chapters of history like it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
