Roman Bath

by Peter Davebport

For almost three hundred years, excavations have been carried out in Roman Bath. At first these were rare and sporadic and archaeological finds were made by chance. Even fewer were reported. But from the 1860s, deliberate investigations were made and increasingly professional methods employed. The Roman Baths were laid open to view, but little was published. From the 1950s, interest accelerated, professionals and amateurs collaborated, and there was never a decade in which some new discovery was not made. The first popular but authoritative presentation of this work was made in 1971 and updated several times. However, from the 1990s to the present there has been some sort of archaeological investigation almost every year. This has thrown much new and unexpected light on the town of Aquae Sulis and its citizens. In this book, Peter Davenport, having been involved in most of the archaeological work in Bath since 1980, attempts to tell the story of Roman the latest interim report on the ‘Three Hundred Year Dig’.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

252 pages, Paperback

Published June 17, 2021

Reviews

[KAdelaide · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an interesting book, though I skimmed through large sections of the building of the Roman Baths and chapters on architecture.

I found it very interesting reading about how the Roman Baths looked when first stumbled across by the Romans, about how the Baths were used, Roman life and the statues. It is interesting this is the only hot springs in England too. Filled with minerals, including being slightly radioactive!

I enjoyed reading about the Gorgon head, that it was probably colourised. Minerva, whom was everywhere, bore the Gorgon head on her shield. I liked reading about the relationship.

Christians believed that the old gods were devils and could inhabit statues- cult statues were brought down and heads cut off when the Christians took over and the Romans left.

Overall an interesting read.

[Caro · Rating 3 out of 5]

A richly detailed survey of the Roman remains in Bath. More detailed than I needed, but I did come away with a sense of when, where and why the Romans came to Bath, worshipped at the springs, and eventually left. Good illustrations and plenty of white space made this trade paperback easy to read.

[May Phoenix · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5⭐️

The archaeological site and museum of the Roman Baths is one of my favourite place in England and reading this book proved it even deeper. Aquae Sulis is a fascinating site.