The Brittonic goddess of the thermal spring at Bath in southwest England, known to the Romans as Aquae Sulis, "the waters of Sulis." Excavation at the site recovered more than a hundred curse tablets, inscribed lead sheets asking Sulis to punish thieves who had wronged the petitioner, alongside votive gifts and gemstones thrown into the sacred spring, showing her worshipped both as a healing water goddess and as an enforcer of justice. Roman-era worshippers syncretized her as Sulis Minerva, and a well preserved gilt bronze head from a cult statue of the combined goddess survives from the site.
Facts
Function
Domain / Function Attestation
Era of Attestation Veneration TodayHistorically attested; no continuous cult 1 Attributions
Mythic AssociationRoman-era worshippers syncretized Sulis as Sulis Minerva, and a well preserved gilt bronze head from a cult statue of the combined goddess survives from the site. 1 Belief
TheologyPolytheistic: many gods 1 The Brittonic goddess of the thermal spring at Bath, syncretized as Sulis Minerva, matching the reading already carried by the region's other Celtic deities. Origins
Origin of the NameSulis was known to the Romans as Aquae Sulis, the waters of Sulis, naming the thermal spring at Bath in southwest England that was her cult centre. 1 Cult
Attributes and IconographyA well preserved gilt bronze head from a cult statue of Sulis, worshipped in her syncretized Roman form as Sulis Minerva, survives from the temple precinct at Bath. 1 Correspondences & Relations
Connections
Associated With
This source names Sulis directly: "of the curse tablets, the tabellae Sulis, recovered from the sacred spring dedicated to Sulis Minerva at Bath."
Source Tabellae Sulis: Roman Inscribed Tablets of Tin and Lead from the Sacred Spring at BathR. S. O. Tomlin
Worshipped In
Source A Dictionary of Celtic MythologyJames MacKillop
Sources
1. A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology
James MacKillop, Oxford University Press, 1998MacKillop's entry on Sulis and the Bath curse tablet corpusView the Source 2. Tabellae Sulis: Roman Inscribed Tablets of Tin and Lead from the Sacred Spring at Bath
R. S. O. Tomlin, Oxford University Committee for Archaeology, 1988Sulis, Roman inscribed tablets at Bath
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