The sports
In the afternoon the Pompeians, after a day of intense job, enjoyed themselves going to the thermal baths opened from midday till sunset.
The availability of different places gave the possibility to practise gymnastic and sporting exercises before the bath; afterwards, it was possible to have massages to active the circulation or to clean the skin with perfumed ointments. To thermal baths entered either men and women, with separate departments for the bath, but they can converse and make gymnastic exercises together.
The young people and the athletes practised the struggle, the boxing, the running, the jumping, the pancratium in the Samnite Palæstra and in the Large Palæstra. The winner of these competitions was celebrated and received varied prizes: palms, crowns, vases, bronze bacilli.
The availability of different places gave the possibility to practise gymnastic and sporting exercises before the bath; afterwards, it was possible to have massages to active the circulation or to clean the skin with perfumed ointments. To thermal baths entered either men and women, with separate departments for the bath, but they can converse and make gymnastic exercises together.
The young people and the athletes practised the struggle, the boxing, the running, the jumping, the pancratium in the Samnite Palæstra and in the Large Palæstra. The winner of these competitions was celebrated and received varied prizes: palms, crowns, vases, bronze bacilli.
