Note 65 — Chapter XXIV

The splendid vestiges of the Roman baths, called “thermæ,” “banios,” or hot baths, at Rome, attest their former extent and magnificence. The Romans began their bathing with hot water, and ended with cold—the hot, “caldarium;” the tepid, “tepidarium;” the cold, “frigidarium.” Vast numbers of magnificent baths were erected by the Roman emperors. They had spacious porticos, rooms for athletic exercises, halls for the declamation of poets and the lectures of philosophers. Perhaps the most interesting remains of Roman baths in England are those discovered in the buried city of Uriconium, or Wroxeter, on the banks of the river Severn, about six miles from Shrewsbury, in Shropshire. For an admirable account of this city, supposed to have been taken by force, with much carnage, plundered, and burnt, between about the year 420 and the middle of the fifth century, we refer our readers to a work of great antiquarian research, published in 1872, entitled, “Uriconium: A Historical Account of the Ancient Roman City,” by Thomas Wright, M.A., F.S.A., &c., and also to the concise and useful work, “The Roman City of Uriconium,” by J. Corbet Anderson. We believe that the private subscriptions, although considerable, which have been collected for excavation, are now all exhausted; and, unless Government aid is given, it is improbable that the excavations, however interesting, can be resumed. The number of relics of the buried city, a very small portion of which has been explored, show the antiquarian, we may say, historical importance of further research. Randall, in his interesting and beautifully illustrated work, the “Severn Valley,” published (1862) by Virtue, says—“As excavations proceed, the plan of the city unfolds itself.... The forum, the baths, the market-place, and the sites of public and private buildings become clear;” and again the author says, “but with ruins, three miles in circumference, much remains to be explored.