Pompeii boasted six public baths, each with sections for men and women. The forum baths had a typical Roman bath layout, comprising different rooms designed to cater to the hygiene and relaxation needs of the ancient Romans. Baths like the forum baths were not merely places for bathing. They were important social centers where people could relax, socialize, and conduct business. The forum baths were richly decorated with frescoes, mosaics, and stucco work, which reflected the artistic tastes and cultural values of Pompeian society. There were six main areas in the bath. Visitors would begin in the apodyterium, a changing room with benches and niches for storing clothes. This room was often adorned with frescoes or other decorations. The second was frigidarium or the cold room. This was a room with a cold water pool where bathers could cool down. It was usually not heated and served as a transition between the hot and warm baths. Third was tepidarium. The tepidarium was a warm, mildly heated room. It served as an intermediate space where bathers could relax and adjust to the changing temperatures. The room was often adorned with intricate mosaics and marble. Fourth was caldarium or hot room. The caldarium was the hottest room, featuring a hot bath and steam. It was heated by a hypocaust system, an underfloor heating system that circulated hot air generated by a furnace. The room also contained a labrum, a basin of cool water used for splashing the face and body. Fifth was palaestra or exercise area. Although not always attached directly to the baths, a palaestra was an open area used for exercise and physical training, which was often associated with larger bath complexes. Sixth were the furnaces and hypocaust. Marvel at the Roman engineering. The bath complex used a sophisticated heating system involving furnaces, praefurnium, that produced hot air, which was channeled under the floors and through the walls via a hypocaust system to warm the room. Try and identify each of there areas in the bath. Once you are done, leave the baths and cross the street to find a row of rectangular marble counters.