The Roman Baths at Bath

Welcome to The Roman Baths at Bath!

 

 

I was astounded to see how much of the Roman Baths are preserved, considering they were built 2,000 years ago and discovered in the late 19th century. In my travels this summer, I seen many baths-related artifacts, such as tile and sections of hypocaust (the underground heating system), but seeing these vast remains in situ was beyond my imagination. This fantastic museum surrounds and incorporates the Baths in a way that let's you experience what the time spent at the Baths by residents and pilgrims must have really been like. It had a very different feeling from the "social club" bath houses at the Roman forts of Segedunum, Chesters, and Vindolanda. Here visitors came for the three Cs -- comfort, cleansing, and cure.

The layout of the vast complex at the Baths built around the thermal water, the only such water in the UK. The round pool in the back right corner is the Sacred Spring. Hot water came from this source, while cold came from other sources outside the Baths.

Bath Abbey, watching over the Baths, only adds to the sacred ambiance of the Baths complex.

Hadrian and I met again while strolling The Terrace.

He and seven other Roman emperors keep watch over the Great Bath.

SPQR (Senatus Populusque Romanus), an initialism or logo, if you will, for The Senate and People of Rome.

The Great Bath

Some young visitors enjoying walking in Roman footsteps. I loved that they insisted on wearing their garments throughout their entire visit and not just in the dress-up area!

Some of the surfaces are quite slippery and you don't want to fall in!

The gilded bronze head from a statue of Sulis Minerva, Goddess of the thermal spring, which once stood in the Temple within the Baths complex. The Romans believed she possessed the power of healing, wisdom, and possibly military insight.

The remains of the Temple's ornamental pediment.

The head of Gorgon, cut off by Perseus, loomed overhead from the pediment in the Temple of Sulis Minerva.

 

The haruspex stone, a sacrificial altar, used for the ritual of offering an animal to a deity.

You can see the bubbling waters in the King's Bath, the site of the ancient spring, caused by exsolved gases (minerals separating from one another) escaping.

The King's Bath

The Roman arch between the Baths and the Sacred Spring

Bath's founder, Prince Bladud, has presided over the King's Bath since the 17th century. It is said that his leprosy was cured when he plunged into what was then just a steamy swamp in the 9th century.

One of the many drains within the complex.

The complicated hypocaust (underfloor heating) system, which only those in charge of cleaning out the soot ever saw.

Floor levels were repeatedly raised in the eastern areas of the complex, as they were closest to the river and prone to flooding. Water backing up would have extinguished the all-important furnaces of the hypocaust, which warmed the changing rooms and saunas.

A beautifully-preserved box tile with great detail. During the dig at Arbeia, I uncovered bits of box and roof tile, but sadly none with this level of detail, which would have made them a more important "small find."

Back outside the Baths into the 21st century. Here is one of the entraces to The Pump Room, first opened in 1706, for those seeking a remedy for "internal conditions." There were samples of the water to drink at the end of the tour of the Baths. It was quite warm, with a slightly metallic mineral taste. Not pleasing, or refreshing, by today's standards. Today the Pump Room is a restaurant, but you may still sample the sacred waters there.

 

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