On Thursday, May 28th, we took a day trip to see the Roman Baths in Bath, England. We rode a tube, then a train, and then we walked through the crooked streets of Bath to our final destination. Just outside the entrance, we paused for a moment to appreciate a man playing the saxophone.
Once we got settled inside, fitted with an old phone-looking device on our wrists, we scattered to explore the old grounds. Every once in a while, there would be a sign with a number that, if you plugged it into your phone device, would allow you to listen to a brief historical synopsis related to whatever area or artifact was nearby. It was very much a choose-your-own-adventure museum experience. You did not have to hear about anything that did not interest you. On the other hand, if anything caught your eye, you were welcome to explore and sometimes hear more if your interest persisted after the first recording.
As I traipsed along the same paths the romans took hundreds of years ago, I was delighted that I could still hear the jazzy saxophone-playing man. I wonder if they ever had musicians come around the baths all those years ago to enhance the experience. I know I had a better time with the addition of music.
Despite how incredibly old this place and its people are, they were very advanced for their time. I found myself struck by how modern it felt. The style is outdated, but the methods they used to create the beautiful and strong infrastructure were similar to today (or as close as they could get with less-developed tools). Additionally, the activities they engaged in were very contemporary. Getting a massage, women plucking their body hair, men working out in the gym, and more were very common at the Baths! These are also things that most people do almost every day now.
The section of the historic baths that interested me the most (perhaps due to my major) was the engineering section. They invented the “Lewis” bolt (pictured below) to help them lift heavy materials when constructing buildings and other large structures. I probably stared at this for way too long, but I was fascinated that somebody thought up the design for this bolt out of thin air. It brought up a couple of questions, though. How would they cut into the stone in order to apply the bolt? Also, once the stone was in place, would they fill the hole and how? This bolt was just one of many engineering feats the Romans accomplished when constructing the Baths.
– Hadley ❤
Theatre in London U of A 