A motley and tumultuous life once filled the barren court, the rooms now ruined and deserted. The scene is well pictured by Seneca (Ep. 56): 'Quiet is by no means so necessary for study as men commonly believe,' the philosopher gravely argues. 'I am living near a bath: sounds are heard on all sides. Just imagine for yourself every conceivable kind of noise that can offend the ear. The men of more sturdy muscle go through their exercises, and swing their hands heavily weighted with lead: I hear their groans when they strain themselves, or the whistling of labored breath when they breathe out after having held in. If one is rather lazy, and merely has himself rubbed with unguents, I hear the blows of the hand slapping his shoulders, the sound varying according as the massagist strikes with flat or hollow palm. If a ballplayer begins to play and to count his throws, it's all up for the time being. Meanwhile there is a sudden brawl, or a thief is caught, or there is some one in the bath who loves to hear the sound of his own voice; and the bathers plunge into the swimming tank with loud splashing. These noises, however, are not without some semblance of excuse; but the hair plucker from time to time raises his thin, shrill voice in order to attract attention, and is only still himself when he is forcing cries of pain from some one else, from whose armpits he plucks the hairs. And above the din you hear the shouts of those who are selling cakes, sausages, and sweetmeats, besides all the hawkers of stuff from the cookshops, each with a different and characteristic cry.' Such were the distractions of a Roman bath. CHAPTER XXVIII _THE BATHS NEAR THE FORUM_ The bathing establishment in the block north of the Forum is smaller and simpler in its arrangements than that described in the last chapter, but the parts are essentially the same. Here also we find a court, with a colonnade on three sides; a system of baths for men, comprising a dressing room (I) with a small round frigidarium (II) opening off from it, a tepidarium (III), and a caldarium (IV); a similar system for women, the place of the frigidarium being taken by a tank for cold baths (2) in the dressing room; and a long narrow furnace room between the two baths (V). On three sides of the establishment are shops, in connection with which are several inns. [Illustration: Fig. 91.--Plan of the baths near the Forum. A, A'. Street entrances to court. B. Colonnade. I-IV. Men's baths. I. Apodyterium. II. Frigidarium. III. Tepidarium. IV. Caldarium. V. Furnace room. C. Area. D. Court back of women's baths. 1-4. Women's baths. 1. Apodyterium. 2. Basin for cold baths. 3. Tepidarium. 4. Caldarium. _d._ Sundial.]