Lidos for All

By: Douglas Murphy

The architecture of public baths can be the embodiment of communal luxury.

Families enjoy Battersea Park Lido in London in the 1960s. (Photo by Archive Photos / Getty Images.)

Small

An intriguing debate about the collapse of the Roman Empire relates to the question of public bathing. By the early fifth century, many Britons continued to wear togas and speak Latin, but had nonetheless allowed their most sophisticated technology — the baths — to break down and fall into ruin. There may not have been a cataclysmic […]

Medium

An intriguing debate about the collapse of the Roman Empire relates to the question of public bathing. By the early fifth century, many Britons continued to wear togas and speak Latin, but had nonetheless allowed their most sophisticated technology — the baths — to break down and fall into ruin. There may not have been a cataclysmic […]

Large

An intriguing debate about the collapse of the Roman Empire relates to the question of public bathing. By the early fifth century, many Britons continued to wear togas and speak Latin, but had nonetheless allowed their most sophisticated technology — the baths — to break down and fall into ruin. There may not have been a cataclysmic […]

An intriguing debate about the collapse of the Roman Empire relates to the question of public bathing. By the early fifth century, many Britons continued to wear togas and speak Latin, but had nonetheless allowed their most sophisticated technology — the baths — to break down and fall into ruin. There may not have been a cataclysmic […]

Sorry, but this article is available to subscribers only. Please log in or become a subscriber.