Roman life

These eerie bubbles are rising from the depths of the earth into the sacred pool of Sulis at the Roman Baths in Bath. The water is about 42 centigrade and falls to a comfortable hand hot by the time it arrives at the bathing pools. It's no wonder the Romans worshipped such a wonder of the world as this;

The Baths and temple complex are full of statues and carved heads which reflect their beliefs.

This head is believed to be a 'Gorgon' type face - I don't agree - there aren't any snakes. It looks a lot more like the 'Green Man' of British mythology, which would make perfect sense as the Romans often took over other peoples Gods for their own use.

This next magnificent mask is the face of the British God 'Sulis' as stolen by the Romans and given the appearance of their God 'Minerva', the God of healing;

Here's one of the heads from the many Roman graves;

There are a host of everyday items, not least because many were dropped into the spring as an offering to the Gods - over 13000 coins alone.

Top left is a bauble from a military uniform, top right is a centurion's belt buckle while in the centre is a Roman saucepan/beaker;

These are moulds for molten pewter, a metal alloy often used by Romans;

These are keys - the Romans had locks!

They had jewellery (the spring contained many jewels and carved items), they had hairpins and combs. They also had problems with crime.

This is a small sheet of lead thrown into the spring - it's a curse sent to the Gods for their help;

Here are three sample curses, dealing with the theft of property, the last one because of the theft of a slave;

Do not allow sleep or health to him who has done me wrong, whether man or woman, whether slave or free, unless he reveals himself  and brings those goods to your  temple.

 

The person who has lifted my bronze cooking pot is utterly accursed. I give him to the temple of Sulis

Whether woman or man

Whether slave or free

Whether girl or boy

And let him who has done this spill his own blood into the vessel itself.

 

May the person who has taken Vilbia become as liquid as water

These everyday items were the best part of the day for me - like walking in the steps of the Romans of 2000 years ago.

Here are the paving stones from the Bath/Temple complex, just the same as they were all those years ago;

 

 

Neil Harris

(a don't stop till you drop production)

 

Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

 

Contact me:  neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

 

 



Roman Bath.

I found Bath very beautiful but everything from parking to buses was a rip-off; just to milk us tourists.

But even though the Roman Baths cost the two of us £27, they were probably worth it.

This is the main bath where all the socialising would be going on. The statues and the columns are all 19th century. The Roman remains are all at floor level and are the square blocks of stone.

Of course, the Pool would have been enclosed by a roof which would have kept the weather out and the heat in.

Nice;

                             

 

Everything went on around the baths - washing, talking, bathing, doing deals, gossiping.

 

This is an actor pretending to be a stone mason advertising his skills by the poolside;

   

 



I was fascinated by an area where the paving stones were worn down in a line. The archaeologists think this was where people queued up to buy oysters from a stall which had a chute so that running water was flowing by to keep the oysters alive.

This is a section of the stonework which brought hot spring water to the baths;

 

This is where the hot water comes from the spring into the main pool. It's hand hot rather than scalding; 

 

  



But the Baths are a whole complex. There is the sacred hot spring which was worshiped by the ancient Britons as the home of their god Sulla. It was then taken over by the Romans who merged that god into their own god of healing, Minerva.

There was a temple, the large pool and a complex of hot and cold rooms and small baths.

To keep the water hot, there was a lead pipe carrying water from the spring to the smaller pools. It's an amazing feat of engineering, using local Mendip lead and remarkable plumbing skills;

 

 

Of course, there's always security - I'd have probably been in trouble with the bouncers then too;

 







This is a section of the Hypercaust - the tiles supported a stone floor and on the right hand side is a tunnel which brought heat into this steam room from a fire kept alight by slaves;

You could see the life going on around you in the remains of the Roman past.

There was also a museum of everyday objects but that's for another day.

Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)

Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

Bathtime.

On Thursday, because we couldn't go anywhere exciting we went to Bath in Somerset. It's not abroad but neither of us had been there before; it's old and it's very pretty. All the buildings are made out of 'Bath Stone', a rich, orange-hued limestone quarried from the Mendip Hills nearby.

It was very fashionable in the 18th Century when the Prince of Wales and his courtiers came there to take the health giving waters and to bathe in the hot springs.

The money this brought to the town produced some broad expansive terraces of elegant Regency houses for the wealthy tourists;

It's a world heritage site and jealously protects its image. All the new buildings and stores have to be built of the same Bath Stone to fit in.

There's an ancient cathedral;

And the local authority has blown many millions of pounds of the peoples money on renovating the old baths so that wealthy visitors can indulge themselves; here they are enjoying the rooftop pool;

 

 

 

The town was always aimed at the wealthy - here's a mock up of a sedan chair outside one of the museums - to carry people from their hotel to the baths;

 

 



 

 

 

There are plenty of museums trying to get our money, I'm not a fan of Jane Austen but lots of people are;

 



 

 



This is the statue outside the Cathedral celebrating the local mineral waters;

 

 

                                                       



 

 

 And this is me filling my Tesco's bottle with some free mineral water from the hot spring.;

 

 



It smelt strongly of bad eggs from all the sulphur in the water and it was really hot - it kept warm in my rucksack for about two hours after I filled it which was a bit spooky.

This is the famous weir that runs through the centre of town;

I wasn't so impressed until I went to the Roman Baths but that's a story for tomorrow.

Click on any picture for a slideshow.
Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)

Home:  helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

Contact me:  neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com