It is really hard to imagine what ancient Rome was like during the first century AD when the Apostle Paul was there. 2,000 years of history have buried ancient Rome, or else dismantled much of what ancient Rome used to be as building materials were recycled and reused for new architectural projects throughout the centuries.
As a result, we have to imagine what ancient Rome was like.
The Apostle Paul arrived in Rome in the year AD 60. In AD 79, just a few years later, Mt. Vesuvius (a couple of hours to the south of Rome) erupted, completely burying the city of Pompeii in ash. The eruption was a terrible tragedy (killing an estimated 2,000 people), however it did have the unexpected good fortune of preserving perfectly everything about the city … so that we today can have a really good idea of what an ancient Roman city of the first century was like.
And hence, what ancient Rome itself was probably like.
Here you can see an illustration from the guide map I picked up when hubby and I were at Pompeii. This shows you what the laundry services of ancient Rome were probably like.
According to the guide brochure: “Fullonicae were ancient laundries. 12 have been found in Pompeii. The most famous is the Fullonica of Stephanus – which was used for washing laundry and degreasing fabrics made from yarn that had just been spun. It was built by transforming the structure of a regular atrium house. A large tank was situated in the center of the atrium instead of the rainwater-collection pool. The typical opening in the roof (compluvium) designed for collecting the rainwater, was replaced by a skylight so that the upper part could be used as a terrace for drying clothes.
“Other tanks were located in the back garden. The fullones (laundry workers), who were almost exclusively slaves, had to tread on the fabrics for hours in a liquid containing animal and humane urine considered ideal for treating fabrics.”
Here you can see a regular atrium-style home. This was not a laundry facility, but it gives you an idea of what the Laundry of Stephanus would have been like. You can see the shallow basin of the reflecting pool there in the center. Imagine this being replaced by a much deeper tank for laundry … and imagine slaves treading the laundry down in this tank.
Also imagine a second story up above this open atrium here, with laundry hanging to dry on the terrace up above. Also imagine, in the background where you see the pillars for the garden, there being more laundry tanks … with more slaves treading dirty loads of Roman togas, household fabrics, and other garments.
Obviously the ancient city of Rome was much larger than the city of Pompeii, so ancient Rome must have had many laundry facilities similar to this one.
This is what the ancient city of Rome was like when the Apostle Paul was there. I wonder if the Apostle Paul ever used laundry services?
