The Ancient Healing Powers Of The Roman Baths

Secrets Of The Roman Baths | And Why Swimming Is Banned!

In this video, Alice Loxton visits one of the most fascinating Roman sites in Britain, the Roman baths in the glorious city of Bath. But don’t worry, this is not another dreaded Latin lesson.

Alice takes you, the subscribers of the History Hit YouTube channel, through the best bits of the history, the history without the boring bits. She looks at everything from trendy hairstyles to sacrificial altars, we’ll get to grips with ancient curses, beguiling myths and front page news discoveries. She even shows you where our ancestors got it wrong, with typos and botched jobs - which landed them, in, well, a lot of hot water.

So gather your rubber ducks and grab a towel, it’s time to dive head first into the remarkable secrets history of the Roman baths.

And remember, as YouTube subscribers, you can sign up to History Hit TV today with code YOUTUBE and enjoy 50% off your first 3 months!

#historyhit #bath #romans

[puttiplush]

I was expecting the answer to "why swimming is banned" to be "you'll get lead poisoning, " and not "you could contract a brain-eating amoeba, " so that was a genuine surprise!

[pooterist]

This was a terrific look back. I was a student at Bath in the early 70's and I remember swimming in the baths - they were open then one day a year for residents. It was wonderful to soak and enjoy the steamy water, watching the constant inflow of more hot water from the thick lead pipes.
There was a public drinking fountain in the street just outside the pump rooms, and I too remember the warm, iron-rich taste. i heard the story at the time that some seismic event had changed the flow of water and was thought that this brought in the microbial pollutant, so the took the fountain away and stopped the annual bathing events. Pity.
I also remember during the extraordinary hot summer and drought of 74 or so, swimming over the central watercourse of Pultney Weir. Good times.

[johndododoe]

Unless the Amoeba is living in the underground spring itself, I'm surprised it hasn't been cleaned up and eradicated by the city by temporarily draining the water, disinfecting the buildings and then refilling the pools while taking inspection samples as often as in municipal drinking water.

[Wendipops]

My hometown is Bath 💕 and I spent many a school trip at the Roman Baths! I also remember how my granny would tell me that the baths used to be open to the public when she was young and they didn’t foresee any danger! 😅 if you are planning a trip to the Roman Baths a top tip from a local would be to go in the evening to enjoy under the stars ✨

[Bout_TreeFiddy]

She recited all those historic journal entries from memory! It's impressive and more engaging than reading off a page in post production. Her enthusiasm and passion makes a difference.

[Neil_BT]

Can't believe this was 25 minutes long - seemed to be over in a flash. Thoroughly fascinating, and Alice came over as knowledgeable and enthusiastic.

[garydslug]

Thank you, Alice Loxton, for existing. Your enthusiasm is infectious, love it.

[Locutus]

Wow! I loved Alice's presentation. Her enthusiasm and passion really showed. She was incredibly well spoken, and made it so entertaining to watch.

[pheart]

I like this presenter. She gets the balance between education and humour right.

[pilotgal]

I visited Bath in August, 1997. It was a rather warm August in Britain and the natural heat of the baths was much warmer than I expected. We didn’t go in the water, of course, but you could feel the heat from the water and the natural smell of the spring was quite interesting! After watching this, I dug out my pics just to remember that fabulous visit.
This was a truly informative presentation with a fun, incredible guide! 😀

[stephaniecowans]

Alice Loxton and Dan Snow are my absolute favorite presenters on History Hit due to their enthusiasm for the subject, knowledge and -- in Dan's case -- intelligent questions that are asked during an interview.

[matthewhodge]

The Bath Stone is mostly oolitic sandstone (limestone), made up of millions of small marine organisms (ooids), which indeed weather quite easily over the long term. Interestingly, the City Hall in Cape Town, South Africa (my home town) is built out of the same stone (imported from Bath nonetheless!). Fantastic doccie, thanks!

[bobwerber]

I swam in the baths in the 70's at a big Jane Austin jubilee party. Big band playing, drinks, lots of people bobbing around in all the baths making noise. I think we did the Romans proud. Not sure if it stained my bathing suit but it was a blast.

[jackvphoenix]

I love the job that Alice did on this video. She combined information and humor with an energetic presentation.

[alexisdetocqueville]

Back in 2015 I did a semester abroad in London (I'm American). One of the trips I took that stood out the most was going to Bath. Being in a nearly 2, 000 year old structure that is STILL STANDING absolutely blew my mind, coming from a country which only goes back 300 years.

[LadySugaZilla]

You have to love the enthusiastic presentation of history that Alice delivers, absolutely love this channel, tysm for the wonderful videos

[asa]

Have never watched a doc with Alice but now im OBSESSED! Love the enthusiasm and now im excited to learn about Rome in Britain!

[tsubakie]

I really love Alice's excited and bright vibe. She looks so interested and enthusiastic with all of these marvellous artifacts and stories

[georgevladimirovich]

Bath is one of the most elegant and interesting city in the world and it was both a pleasure and a privilege to visit it.
As usual, the beauty and the charming clarity of English, defined as one of the best teaching languages in the entire world, is greatly emphasized throughout the entire presentation. A pleasure to watch you Alice.

[vsznry]

She has the best short form content for history on the gram.