86 PAPERS, ETC. 



temple at Bath (for his Fontes Calidi can have been 

 no other place), dedicated to Minerva. His words are 

 these : " Circuitus Brltannlas, quadi'agies octles septuaginta, 

 quinque millia passuum sunt : in quo spatio magna et 

 miüta flumina sunt. Fontesque Calidi opiparo exsculpti 

 apparatu ad usus mortalium : quibus fontibus prassul est 

 MinervEe numen, in cujus tede perpetui igues nunquam 

 canescunt in faviUas, sed ubi tabuit vertitiu- in globos 

 saxeos." 



From the description of Solinus, we gather the fbUowing 

 important conclusions, says Whitaker : 



1. The bot Springs had been coUected into elegant 

 basins, and furnished with accommodation, for the use of 

 bathers. 



2. The words, " opiparo exsculpti apparatu," even mean 

 more than elegance, as they mount up into magnificence. 



3. That Minerva was considered by the Romans as 

 presiding over the Springs, and a temple built to her 

 honour. This is only known of one more town in Britain, 

 viz., Camalodunum, where a temple stood within or near 

 the town. 



4. Constant fii'e was kept burning within this temple, 

 like that in the Temple of Vesta, at Rome. That in the 

 Temple of Vesta, at Rome, had very sm'prisingly a rela- 

 tion to Minerva, equal with this at Bath. Yet Minerva, 

 of Bath, was not, like PaUas, of Rome, served only by 

 virgins, and beheld only by the head virgin. The Bath 

 Minerva appears to have been served by men, and married 

 men too, as appears by an inscription on the tomb of a 

 priest. 



5. The fire was fed with fossil coal, which is found about 

 Newton. This is the first mention of coal used by the 

 Romans in Britain. 



