Seneca was staying at a home nearby.
“When your strenuous gentleman, for example, is exercising himself by flourishing leaden weights; when he is working hard or else pretending to be working hard, I can hear him grunt, and when he releases his imprisoned breath, I can hear him panting in wheezy and high-pitched tones. Or perhaps I notice some lazy fellow, content with a cheap rubdown, and hear the crack of the pummeling hands on his shoulders, varying in sound as the hand is laid on flat or hollow.”
“Add to this the arresting of an occasional roisterer or pickpocket, the racket of the man who always likes to hear his own voice in the bathroom, or the enthusiast who plunges into the swimming tank with unconscionable noise and splashing.”
“Then the cakeseller with his varied cries, the sausageman, the confectioner, and all the vendors of food hawking their wares, each with his own distinctive intonation.”
Follow up activity
Pretend that you are mayor of the town where Seneca lives and this is a letter that he wrote to you about the bath house. Write a letter back to him. It is up to you to decide whether or not he is angry about the bath house and wants you to do something about it or if he likes them and wants to thank you for building such a large one. Be sure to include the sentences or words that made you decide on how you think Seneca feels about the bath houses. Be creative and offer a solution to Seneca or an acknowledgment of his gratitude.
