• jetA
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    4 months ago

    how cold would a plunge pool be?

    • PugJesus@lemmy.worldOPM
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      4 months ago

      They didn’t have any form of advanced cooling, so generally it would be simply unheated water kept away from the sun and away from the furnaces. You can get a room reasonably cool with stonework and clay insulation like that.

      • rockSlayer@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        It wouldn’t look Roman, but I bet if they used ancient air conditioning techniques around a hollow tub of bronze then it could be described as properly cold

        • PugJesus@lemmy.worldOPM
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          4 months ago

          The Romans understood the capability of wind to cool structures, and would intentionally build in accordance with the prevailing winds and the needs of the structure in question, but unfortunately, I don’t believe the Romans ever developed real cooling systems of the kind that the ancient Persians did. Windcatchers and yakhchals and such.

          The Romans did sometimes ferry snow from nearby mountains to cool their baths, but obviously that’s not viable in all situations - and certainly not for bathhouses frequented by ordinary citizens!

          • rockSlayer@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            Oh yea I agree with you there. I’m imagining combining techniques like wind catchers with terracotta cooling, something that would likely only arise from our modern understanding