QUOTE(KLthinker91 @ Dec 18 2019, 02:45 AM)
Bit of a stereotype, although true in some situations
Romans in general had a strong appreciation for Greek knowledge, philosophy and technology, even arts and culture. The upper class Romans were often educated by Greeks.
Well, yes, but that didn't stop them from regarding most Gaulish practices as barbarical
So on balance, it is more likely the Romans copied Greek soap-using practices rather than barbarians.
It's just ritual cleansing in this day and age
Soap works better for any practical purpose
Romans love Greeks art. That was it. The word soap came from roman word sapo. There are 2 versions from where the words came from.
First is from the legend of mount Sapo supposed to be near Rome. The mountain does not exist (or now exist under different name). The story about Mount Sapo explains that upon its slopes, ancient Romans used to sacrifice animals as burnt offerings. Wood ash from the fires of their altars mingled with the grease from the animal sacrifices, forming a primitive kind of soap. This soap found its way to the clays of a nearby stream, where local people found that it helped them get their laundry cleaner. Soap gets its Latin name, sapo, from the name of the mountain. Historians believe it as an old wives tale or a hoax.
Second is from Pliny the Elder who wrote in book 28, chapter 51, Natural History.
Prodest et sapo, Galliarum hoc inventum rutilandis capillis. Fit ex sebo et cinere, optimus fagino et caprino, duobus modis, spissus ac liquidus, uterque apud Germanos maiore in usu viris quam feminis.(There is also soap (sapo), an invention of the Gauls for making their hair shiny. It is made from tallow and ashes, the best from beechwood ash and goat fat, and exists in two forms, solid and liquid; among the Germans both are used more by men than by women.)
The etymology of soap is fairly straightforward; it comes either from a Gaulish word *sapo- or a Germanic word *saipa-. Both of these words are cognate with Latin sebum, meaning fat or tallow.
Soap was not used in Roman baths; soapy water would make the public bathing areas lathery.