The Romans had long attached great importance to the search for water, although the city of Rome was on the tiber river and there was no shortage of water. The Romans found many springs, dug many wells, and the city's water supply and drainage system were particularly well built.
In 312 BC, shortly after the Roman Republic, the entire Roman water supply system was built into a vast network. The Romans turned bathing into a way of public life, and in the time of Caesar, Rome had built 170 baths, and in the time of the Five Wise Emperors, 1,000 were built. Ruins of the present Baths of Caracalla:
The magnificent atmosphere of the baths is astounding, the walls are 30 meters high, about 10 stories high, and the 10-story bathhouse was built more than 2,000 years ago, and I really admire them.
The bathhouse is divided into a cold bath, a warm water bath, a hot bath and a sauna. The pools are separated from each other, the bathhouse allows others to enter to sell rice and wine, eat and drink Lhasa can be solved, haircuts, beauty, magic tricks, it is simply a super entertainment center.
Imagine a day when the Romans were deliberating in the square, watching duels in the dueling arena, chatting in the bathhouse, and being unhappy.
The Romans saw their way of life as civilized. Turning bathing into a symbol of civilization, those who do not like to bathe are barbarians. The Romans would also build baths wherever they went, but the Romans exported civilization while also making civilization ugly, civilization stemming from the pursuit of higher morality and healthier living habits, making us look less like animals, but after civilization developed to a certain stage, it became hypocritical and became more and more superficial.
The Puritans of America placed special emphasis on vigilance against over-civilization, emphasizing the impropriety of not forgetting the original intention, as reflected in the transformation of the Geneva Cathedral, where Calvin removed all the luxuries from the church, so you will feel particularly plain as soon as you enter.
The Romans loved public life, and they were honest with those around them when they bathed. Emperor Hadrian, one of the Five Wise Emperors of Rome, met his old comrades-in-arms while taking a bath, and the emperor had someone to scrub the bath, but the veteran did not, and the emperor rewarded him with two people to help him scrub the bath.
The Romans were free to enter the baths, and the baths were built by the emperor, so why did the emperor do this? This is the emperor currying favor with the citizens, the politics of the Roman era is that everyone is negotiated together, and every citizen, whether poor or rich, is powerful. When the emperor gave the citizens more entertainment, their enthusiasm for participating in politics would slowly disappear, and when everyone felt that such a life was a happy life, they would lose the right to enjoy it anymore. The emperor gave more power to the soldiers.
Therefore, such a way of growing up with public life and public welfare linked to each other allowed the Romans to choose, cooperate, and support their leaders in such a comfortable life. Later, the consuls gradually became emperors.
What will become of the flattered people? I'm comfortable, I'm happy, whether it's watching a play in the arena or being comfortable in a bathing center, political support is actually going to give to these big guys. But you should not forget two, first, people's desire is constantly expanding, today there is this, then can you play something to make us more comfortable, there is no more exciting program. With nothing new, this buy-in is easily outdated.
The same is true of the bathing center, which is not only a bathhouse, but also comes with a gymnasium, a library, a reception room, and the decorations on it, according to the archaeological excavations of the Baths of Caracalla, those marble sculptures are basically genuine, the inlay of gold mosaics, layer by layer of complex civilization added upwards, so that people who do not have much money can enjoy these good things.
Therefore, by throwing money at the big people to raise civilization, they lost the simple and even barbaric, simple, rough, and strong and courageous national nature of ancient Rome. Can the fallen Roman, who can no longer go to war, covered in fragrant olive oil, can he still support the Roman Empire? Although Rome originally made up of people, the people are in such a nurturing, bribery, entertainment, making you happier and happier, but more and more depraved such a situation, then you can not support such a country. Did the emperors know about this? Some know, some don't. However, when these emperors who knew it woke up, I am afraid it was too late. From frugality to luxury, the reverse is not enough. When you already like to watch drama, when you already like to wash white, and let you live that kind of hard, simple, simple and barbaric life, your way of life can no longer go back. So when we say that the emperor found out, there is actually not much of a way. Once the people are bribed by the emperor to a more civilized and more comfortable life, losing their ambitions, losing their ambitions, losing their bloodiness, we say that the bearer of this empire will have a big problem. What else can a ruler do in such a situation? In fact, we have found a lot of clues from the baths of Caracalla, the rulers have actually begun to lighten the people, the soldiers, the people are unreliable, the soldiers are the most reliable. In fact, he has found that such a group of people who need his bribe are no longer worthy of bribery, what strength do you have, what blood ability do you have to provide energy for this country, to provide energy for me? Since you have been raised from a very fierce jackal, tiger and leopard to a soft little white rabbit, what else do I want you to do? I want the fiercest crowd in this nation to seize the army. Since it is a sheep, it is no longer a state of cooperation and public life that everyone worked together and enjoyed public decision-making and public life. What framework makes more sense? Of course, it is the Divine Right of The Christian Monarchy.
What does this history tell us? Pleasure is what people are willing to do, but it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, and it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality.