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Greenshaw High School

GCSE Latin students visit Bath

Students explored Bath's Roman heritage last week.

Students were working on an assignment that involved research using a range of primary sources. Bath highlights included a range of artefacts that showed the delicate fusion of Celtic and Roman cultur,e such as the gorgon’s head with heavy beard and moustache, a range of Irish Celtic inspired Roman jewellery and the pagan triple goddess.

Students also saw many examples of defixio, cursing tablets found at Bath. These curses are written backwards in Latin and say things like ‘Curse the man or woman who stole my clothes from this Bath house, may the power of all the Gods twist their intestines and may their life come to a terrible end’. The great spiritual nature of Bath was the main highlight. Romans believed springs were very holy places, where the Gods naturally heated the water. The water at Bath naturally comes out of the ground at 46 degrees and students learnt all about the Goddess Sulis Minerva who was worshipped at this site.

In addition to the visit to Bath and its museum, students benefited from a hands-on artefact handling session where they learnt all about the technology behind the construction of Bath. They also handled bathing equipment that taught the complex process of bathing.