The Apodyterium was the changing room at the baths. It contained cubicles and shelves in which to put belongings while bathing, much like an ancient locker. Patrons' belongings were at risk, though, because lots of thieves often came to the baths. To protect property, Romans that could afford it often brought along privately owned slaves or hired one at the bath, called a "capsarius". The Roman wealthy brought lots of slaves to bath. The number of slaves a person had, the greater their social status would appear to be. The really wealthy had slaves who: carried bathing and exercise garments, sandals, linen towels, and a toilet kit (anointing oils, perfume, sponges, strigils*) for their masters. They also may have washed their masters or given them massages.

To attain justice for robberies, patrons would appeal to the Roman gods for revenge. They did this by writing curses on tablets. When completed, these tablets were given to the gods, in hopes that they would take action against these bad deeds. Many of these tablets were found at the spring in Bath, UK.

Fig 1. The modern locker room

Image courtesy of: http://www.lcacougars.com/

Basically, the Apodyterium was the ancient locker room, much like those found in swim and fitness clubs today. Today, though, the locker room is seen as a more social place. Media has constantly portrayed it as a place for casual chats and sometimes even where the bully picks on the scrawny high school kid. In professional sports, the locker room is the place for teams to gather together their thoughts and prepare to save a losing game, or to hear inspirational words from their coach.

The main difference today is that the Romans required slaves to protect belongings, whereas now lockers often have some sort of combination lock that is either used with or built into them^. Now, rather than just using tablets to get revenge for lost goods, when something is missing a patron may report it to the police. Stolen property is stolen property, no matter whether the crime has been committed on the street or in a private fitness club. So, in a sense, modern society expects even more retribution for crimes than the average citizen of Rome, though it certainly can be argued that serious crimes were given much more severe punishments under Roman Law.

*Strigils were metal tools with a curved end that were used for scraping off oil, sweat, and dirt.

^ For futher reading on Ancient Rome and the evolution of locker rooms, visit: http://www.theplumber.com/olympics.html

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