Sources of Ancient Healing Thermalism

Seneca, Epistulae morales ad Lucilium, 17-18,108,16

Datation
c. 65
Canonical Reference
Sen. epist. 17-18,108,16

Decoquere corpus atque exinanire sudoribus inutile simul delicatumque credidimus.

We believed that cooking the body and squeezing out the sweat was both useless and lustful.

Creíamos que cocer el cuerpo y exprimirle los sudores era a la vez inútil y lujurioso.

Commentary

Séneca censura el uso de los baños calientes en su época como muestra de lujo y decadencia.

Related Sources

Lucretius 6.738–756

Describe lugares donde hay charcas o lagos que exhalan vaporesVapor de agua. nocivos. El indicador más importante de la existencia estos lugares es que los pájaros caen muertos al sobrevolarlos.

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Related Sources

Plinius Naturalis historia 31.4

Pliny the Elder indicates the importance of mineral and thermal springs were for humans, and how in some occassions, these springs caused the creation of some urbes because the value of these waters for health. In this case, he includes the examples of some of those cities: Puteolos (Puteoli, Italy), (Aquae) Statiellas (Acqui Terme, Italy) and (Aquae) Sextias (Aix-en-Provence, in France)

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