Above this you'll see the laconium , whose steam was provided by lead pipes still visible in the walls. Most Ostian buildings were heated this way, by hot air piped up from underground boilers. O utside was the gymnastics field, where bathers practiced sports or calisthenics, or walked beneath covered porticoes. Little wonder that these ancient health clubs came to be the Ostians' favorite meeting place. At the height of the Roman Empire's glory, in the late 2nd century AD, men and women spent a good part of the day at these public establishments, mixing freely in the huge communal tubs that could accommodate up to 300 bathers at once.
B eyond the baths is a cluster of three and four-story apartment buildings.
Many of them still have the groundfloor shops and dark, stuffy mezzanines where merchants and the lower classes lived. These dwellings would have had kitchens, with hot running water channeled through lead pipes in the wall. L ike this one, most Ostian apartment buildings had inner courtyards where second-floor balconies overlooked a communal cistern and swimming pool. Some properties were rented out by landlords, but the better ones were actually like ancient condos, with all the tenants sharing facilities and expenses. One important facility shared by all was the communal forica , or latrine.