Thermae Romae: A Japanese Film about Ancient Roman Bathing—and Time Travel!

Have you ever wondered what a bath-house architect from ancient Rome would think if he found himself swept through a time warp into a modern Japanese Spa? Wonder no more! Emily and Cam discuss Thermae Romae, a 2012 Japanese Film that seeks to explore precisely this question by dramatizing the adventures of one Lucius Modestus, an engineer who becomes Emperor Hadrian’s personal bath-house designer.

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Useful Links:

• Watch Thermae Romae (with English Subtitles) on Dailymotion
• Watch the Thermae Romae Novae anime series on Netflix

Cover art adapted from Joseph Theodor Hansen, "Tepidarium at the Forum Baths in Pompeii"

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00:11 - Introduction

01:56 - Thermae Romae: the basics

• 02:28 - How to watch Thermae Romae
• 03:29 - A plot summary: Lucius Modestus travels through time, learns lots about Japanese bathing culture, and applies his knowledge to Roman bath-houses in the time of Hadrian
• 06:59 - The original Thermae Romae manga series
• 08:13 - The film’s success and the Thermae Romae Universe

10:17 - A Fish-out-of-Water Comedy

• 10:24 - The basic premise and some of the movie’s quirks
• 13:35 - Modern Japanese and Ancient Roman bathing cultures, compared
• 19:16 - Lucius bumbles his way through modern Japan and discovers the marvels of Japanese bathing
• 26:05 - Poking fun of Japanese onsen culture (and a digression on the challenges of translation)

29:46 - Thermae Romae and Roman Culture

• 29:56 - A quirky interpretation of real Roman history: the reign of Hadrian, the death of Antinous, and the question of succession (and deification!)
• 38:54 - Lucius’ (very Japanese) critique of Roman bathing culture
• 42:09 - Does Lucius’ critique hold water? Imperial bath-houses, neighborhood bath-houses, and bath-house sociability
• 47:04 - The old men from the onsen teach Lucius to care less about honor and more about community spirit
• 49:36 - Some final thoughts about the movie

51:25 - Wrap-up

• 51:31 - What’s up next: the Odyssey—both Homer’s Odyssey, and Nolan’s Odyssey
• 52:26 - A plug for “The Return” (and for our episode about it!)