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The Roman Masseur
A very common and popular attendant at any Roman bath house would be the masseur, he or she would be a skilled slave belonging to the owner of a public bath house, or to an individual who had the luxury of bath's at their own villa. Two titles come down to us for masseuses, an aelipto, and an unctores, however, an unctores is also referred to as a perfume maker or maker of unctions, and may imply a masseur who makes or blends their own oils for massaging and perfume. A visitor to a bath house towards the end of the 1st Century, whether it be a public or private establishment would at some time get 'cleaned' by one of the attendants or their own slave, this would involve the rubbing of oil and fine sand, often from Africa, onto the body and then being scraped off with a curved metal tool called a strigil. This would normally occur after the bather has been through the warm (tepidarium) and hot (caldarium) rooms, the bather may also wish to have a massage at this point. This would normally involve having more oils rubbed into the skin, often scented to bring about a general feeling of well being to the bather, after the massage is completed, the bather is towelled down with wet linen or woollen towels to remove any excess oil. At least three types of oil are known to have been used for massaging in Roman times, Olive oil was the most common, with sesame and almond oil also being used. The Roman's preferred these oils as they considered them less greasy, and easy to remove from the skin. Other oils in smaller quantities would be added to these very much like essential oils and base oils in today's aromatherapy. Thyme oil was particularly favoured for massaging as the Romans believed it had invigorating quality's, soldiers are known to have used thyme in the water of their bath's for the same reasons. Other oils used included rose, lavender and acanthus, but these may have been more for their pleasant smell than any beneficial quality. Continues |
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The ultimate in relaxation, the masseuse applies olive oil |
