Victoria Harman > Roman Baths > Roman Bath Ruins Today
The building enclosing the Sacred Spring at some point in the 6th or 7th century collapsed into the Spring. The oak foundation still provides some support for the reservoir walls today, though the planks have sunk into the mud.
The great Roman drain still performs its job at present. The wooden boards that lined the drain channels are still there today.
Today, tourists visit the old Roman city of Bath. Where the bath complex stood in the times of the Roman Empire, one can still see the remains of: the Sacred Spring at Bath, the Temple, the Spring overflow, the Great Bath, the East baths, and the West baths, as well as a few small artifacts found on site.
The museum's official site is: http://www.romanbaths.co.uk
On the third of June, 2004, a dig for a new housing project in Maidstone, Kent, UK, uncovered the remains of a Roman Bath House. This discovery shows that history is still very much alive and waiting to be found. The remains are likely to have been from a bath house that was on the site in the late 1st Century A.D. Two sunken rooms--a plunge bath and a steam bath have been uncovered. There were also footings outlining a small suite of heated and unheated rooms, drainage ditches, pottery, mosaic fragments and painted plaster.
Fig. 1 The ruins found in Kent
Image courtesy of: http://www.bbc.co.uk
The developer of the housing project, Don Crosbie, stated to the BBC:
Literally the first spade in the ground went in about three or four inches and came up against hard ground. The archaeologists scraped away a little bit and found a Roman roof tile and that was it, within one minute of the dig on the site. It was just incredible that it was found that early.
Unfortunately, the property developing is scheduled to go on and the remains will be preserved under a parking lot.
To read the BBC's full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/3774197.stm
Remains of a bathing complex have been found at the fortress of Masada in Israel, another colony of the Roman Empire. This complex was built under King Herod, a strong believer in high culture. Much of the complex is in the form of a Roman Bath. The fortress was located on a mesa in the middle of the desert. It is situated near the Dead Sea. Since it is a desert environment, water is difficult to get and therefore expensive and difficult to supply. Nevertheless, Herod had the water used for these baths. In recent news, NPR reported that on the 6th of July, 2004, there was severe rain damage to the ruins of the Masada fortress complex. So, nothing seems to be able to protect history from the climate.
Fig. 2 Ruins of the hot bath at Masada
Image courtesy of: http://www.ebibleteacher.com/imagehtml/masada.html
To read NPR's full article: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3154027 *Special thanks to Roby for the comment on my page relating to this subject
Sources: RomanBaths.co.uk, BBC.co.uk, NPR.org, user comments
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