Sergius Orata

Inventor of the Hypocaust

Bibliographic Data

ID3937867
AuthorsGarrett G Fagan (corresponding author)
Year1996
Volume50
Issue1
Pages56
Publication date1996-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePhoenix (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0031-8299 • E-ISSN: 1929-4883
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/1192681
OpenAlexW2312431848
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited3

ties of the mysterious entrepreneur Sergius Orata, though various other comments and anecdotes help fill out the picture to some degree.l On the basis of these scattered notices, some postulate that Orata invented the hypocaust, the system of underfloor heating used in Roman baths, and therefore occupies a central role in the early history of the development of the baths.2 Despite clear archaeological evidence from Greece and Magna Graecia that proves Orata could not have invented the hypocaust per se (examples have been found that predate him by up to a century-and-a-half),3 the notion still carries widespread currency.4 Attempts at resolving the discrepancy between the literary and archaeological records have included suggesting that he refined rather than invented the hypocaust system,5 or denying a connection between the Greek annular hypocaust and the Romanstyle pillared suspensura, the invention of which can then be ascribed to Orata.6 Can these difficulties be resolved and the nature of Orata's invention precisely defined? And, if so, what role did Orata play in the development of Roman baths? Plinys passage (Appendix, no. 1) is clear on a number of key points. It places Orata's activities in Campania in the 90s B.C. (Crassus was consul in 95 B.C. and the Marsic War was part of the Social War, 91-87 B.C.).7 It says that he was

Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Archaeological and Historical Studies · Classical Antiquity Studies · Philosophy

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