1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Aquae

AQUAE (Lat. for “waters”), a name given by the Romans to sites where mineral springs issued from the earth. Over a hundred can be identified, some declaring by their modern names their ancient use: Aix-les-Bains in Savoy (Aquae Sabaudicae), Aix-en-Provence (Aquae Sextiae), Aix-la-Chapelle or Aachen (Aquae Grani), &c. Only two occur in Britain: Aquae Sulis—less correctly Aquae Solis—at Bath in Somerset, which was famous, and Buxton (called Aquae simply), which seems to have been far less important. Aquae Sulis was occupied by the Romans almost as soon as they entered the island in A.D. 43, and flourished till the end of the Roman period. It was frequented by soldiers quartered in Britain, by the Britons, and by visitors from north Gaul, and its name was known in Italy, though patients probably seldom travelled so far. Like most mineral springs known to the ancients, it was under the protection of a local deity, the Celtic Sul, whom the Romans equated with their Minerva. Stately remains of its baths and temple have been found at various times, especially in 1790 and 1878–1895, and may still be seen there.