History of Sanitation

46 HISTORY OF SANITATION Thermæ of Titus at Rome Clipeus, From an old woodcut Hypocustutn. To the right may be seen the vessels in which water for the baths was heated. The topmost vessel, the Frigidarium, contained cold water from which the hot water tanks and the various baths were supplied. Next in order is the tep- idarium, in which water of moder- ate temperature was stored, and in the lowest, the caldarium, was heated the hottest water used in the baths. After the end of the republic, large establishments used to have a sepa- rate steam bath, the laconicum, and in this apartment, or sometimes adjoining the tepidarium, was the Clipeus, a small circular chamber covered by a cupola. The Clipeus received its light through an aperture in the center of the dome, and this aperture served also as a vent from the chamber. The Clipeus was heated by means of a sep- arate heating apparatus, and its temperature could be raised to an enormous degree or could be regu- lated to suit the bather by raising or lowering the shield. The tepida- rium, as the name