Conisterium
A conisterium (or conisterion) (Greek: κονιστἠριον) was an apartment in Greek and Roman gymnasiums. It was where sand or dust was stored, for use by wrestlers after they had been anointed with oil.[1] They would either sprinkle it on themselves,[2] or a slave would do it.[1] The purpose of this was so that during a fight, the oil or sweat would not prevent a wrestler from having a good grip on his opponent.[3] After a fight, or exercise, the powder was rubbed off with strigils, before the wrestler had a bath.[4]
The conisterium was built after the coryceum and next to a cold bath[5] called frigida lavatio.[6] Conisteriums were also found in palaestras.[1] In the palaestra of Vitruvius, for instance, the gymnasium chambers were built on the right side while the elaeothesium, tepidarium, and an unidentified chamber on the left.[7]
References
- ^ ISBN 0-486-24444-X.
- ISBN 1-4021-7473-X.
- ^ Elmes, James (1824). A general and bibliographical dictionary of the fine arts.
- ^ The Journal of Health. S. C. Atkinson. 1830. p. 317.
- ISBN 978-0-521-13820-8.
- ISBN 978-0-14-193195-1.
- ISBN 978-1-108-08071-2.
External links
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 942.
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