"Two special baths, open on all sides, are prepared for the lowest
classes of the people; and the common crowd, men, women, boys, and
unmarried maidens, and the dregs of all that collect together here, make
use of them. In these baths there is a partition wall, dividing the two
sexes, but this is only put up for the sake of peace; and it is amusing
to see how, at the same time, decrepit old beldames and young maidens
descend into it naked, before all eyes, and expose their charms to the
gaze of the men. More than once I have laughed at this splendid
spectacle; it has brought to my mind the games of Flora at Rome, and I
have much admired their simplicity who do not in the least see or think
anything wrong in it....

"The special baths at the inns are beautifully adorned, and common to
both sexes. It is true they are divided by a wainscot, but divers open
windows have been introduced, through which they can drink with, speak
to, see, and touch each other, as frequently happens. Besides this,
there are galleries above, where the men meet and chatter together, for
every one is free to enter the bath of another, and to tarry there, in
order to look about, and joke and enliven his spirits, by seeing
beautiful women nude when they go in and come out. In many baths both
sexes have access to the bath by the same entrance, and it not
unfrequently comes to pass that a man meets a naked woman, and the
reverse. Nevertheless, the men bind a cloth around their loins, and the
women have a linen dress on, but this is open either in the middle or on
the side, so that neither neck, nor breast, nor shoulders are
covered....

"It is wonderful to see in what innocence they live, and with what frank
confidence they regard the men; the liberties which foreigners presume
to take with their ladies do not attract their attention; they interpret
everything well. In Plato's Republic, according to whose rules
everything was to be in common, they would have behaved themselves
excellently, as they already, without knowing his teaching, are so
inclined to belong to his sect....

"There can be nothing more charming than to see budding maidens, or
those in full bloom, with pretty, kindly faces, in figure and deportment
like goddesses, strike the lute; then they throw their flowing dress a
little back in the water, and each appears like a Venus. It is the
custom of the women to beg for alms jestingly from the men who view them
from above; one throws