RomanArmyTalk

I am a newbie.
The Roman culture was to bathe frequently, even the plebes.
How did the Roman soldier deal with this?

Romans were avid bathers. However, they were also extremely practical people as well. Permanent bases had bath houses, but soldiers in the field went without, although I suppose a quick dip in a stream at a stop was not out of the question. 8-)

"bathing" for soldiers may have been mostly confined to face and hands, and wound cleanup. There simply wouldn't be a way to carry enough water and oil out on the campaign. But when permanent forts were constructed, a bath house often was build on the site.

Quote:However, they were also extremely practical people as well. Permanent bases had bath houses, but soldiers in the field went without, although I suppose a quick dip in a stream at a stop was not out of the question.

Well it depends. Cassius Dio (LXXI. 20. 1) tells us that during the final phases of Marcomannic wars before Marcus Aurelius' death the Roman soldiers occupying German territories even had baths in their fortresses in barbaricum. This is confirmed by archaeological findings of baths in a Roman (at least partly) military facilities at Musov Burgstall in the Czech Republic (ie. German lands; see this article).

However, I agree this was probably an exception rather than norm. And of course when on campaign - marches, battles, etc. - baths surely were not available

Greetings,
Alexandr