Thermae - Leisure for Everyone

Thermae, an original Roman legacy, had hot and cold baths, pools, gymnasiums, gardens, museums and libraries under one complex. But the Romans used and preferred freshwater for bathing – fresh river currents, lakes, shallows and ice springs. The thermae were their pastime, the easiest and the only pastime that could bring to life the renowned proverb – a sound mind in a sound body. Why was the mosaic with the depiction of Sappho and the Muses placed in the thermae? We know that thermae did not only serve the basic needs of hygiene but formed an integral part of the new way of life which look into account other human needs. The inclusion of libraries, museums, halls for conversation or public readings, as well as sports grounds, shops and restaurants, made thermae very popular places for gatherings. We therefore think that the mosaic eloquently speaks of "learned leisure", otium litteratum, or "dignified leisure", otium cum dignitate. Therefore, otium is a world of individuality, maturing, cognition and creativity, the time in which the unforeseen and undetermined can occur, a truly free time that belongs to the individual. Otium is therefore a learned leisure embodied in the idyllic Arcadia, and the words that define it are: time, freedom, knowledge and peace, but also beauty, friendship, nature, solitude, forgiveness. (Résumé auteur)