3.7 Caerleon

You have seen the baths at Caerleon in Week 4’s Baths in the ancient world [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]   and earlier this week you looked at the reconstructed barracks in Training the Roman army. The legionary fortress for the Legio 2 Augusta, Caerleon, has yielded finds of cooking utensils and surgical tools but also further evidence of different aspects of health and healing; for example, animal bones which reveal the diet of the soldiers. The site now includes a Roman-inspired garden with a range of plants which the Romans believed had healing qualities.

Now watch Video 6 which, as this course approaches its end, brings together these different pieces of the jigsaw of sources from which you can learn about health.

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Transcript: Video 6 Caerleon

NARRATOR

Caerleon, Roman Isca, is just outside Newport in Wales, and it was one of the most important military sites during the Roman occupation of Britain.

Built in 75 CE, it was in use until the early third century and was one of just three permanent fortresses in Roman Britain.

It was home to the second Augustan legion and would have housed about 4 and 1/2 thousand soldiers.

On the site was a large bath complex with a cold room, a warm room, and a hot room. There was also an open-air pool for swimming in.

The bath complex also included an area for exercise. Some of the bathers lost their jewellery in the baths, and so the site has one of the best collections of gemstones in the Roman world.

Just outside the fortress walls is an amphitheatre. This could have seated up to 6,000 spectators. It would have been used for games and also as a training area for the legion.

Caerleon now has a reconstruction of a Roman garden. Herbs used for healing, plants for cooking, and flowers for decoration would all have been grown here.

Caerleon was in use until the end of the Roman occupation of Britain, and much of the site can still be seen today.

End transcript: Video 6 Caerleon

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Video 6 Caerleon