take a bath, hippie

Hoo ya. I'm going to try and not just repeat a bunch of info that Olivia's already covered, because that would be such a disaster. So here's some fun facts about these baths that will hopefully fill your heads with a new and positive love for ancient public bathing!

Ancient, because no, you cannot take baths in the baths. It isn't because nobody wants to see you getting all grimy in a one-piece. It's because the water passes through still-functioning lead pipes from ye olde Roman times that could poison you. However, the walls will project shows of... bathing... every three minutes or so. How neat.

Interestingly, Geoffrey of Monmouth (uhh) came up with an obscure legend of how King Bladud had discovered the water three thousand years prior. Somehow, this legend morphed public opinion into belief that the water had magical healing properties, because according to common belief, Bladud and a herd of pigs with leprosy were cured by wallowing around the water. Perhaps lead poisoning cures leprosy. That, or the Brits were just mental.

Rome built the baths to appease the citizens of Silus, because when Rome invaded in the early first century, the citizens really only cared about Rome was going to do for them (classic humans). The name of Bath went through numerous changes as the local language evolved; for a brief time, the city even was known as Aquamann.