SENECA Seneca on Baths "I would die if silence were as necessary to study as they say. I live just above the bath house." "Consider all the hateful voices I hear! When the brawny men exercise with their lead weights, I hear their groans and gasps. Or when someone else comes in to get a vulgar massage: I hear the slap of a hand on his shoulders. Add those who leap into the pool with a huge splash. Beside these, who at least have normal voices, consider the hair plucker, always screeching for customers, and never quiet except when he's making someone else cry." (Seneca, Letter 56)