Even the lauded baths were more of a danger than a benefit to public health. In Rome’s bigger institutions thousands upon thousands of people soaked in the same water every day. Bathers didn’t use soap, preferring to cover themselves in olive oil and then scrape it off with an instrument called a strigil. Contemporary writers complained about the water being dirty and contaminated with human excrement. In other words, Roman baths created an ideal environment for waterborne diseases to spread.
