Once I Was A Clever Boy: Hygiene on Hadrian’s Wall

Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.

Monday, 12 January 2026

Hygiene on Hadrian’s Wall

There have been several articles online recently about research into the evidence for parasitic intestinal infections amongst the Roman garrison on Hadrian’s Wall. Each successive article seems to give ever more information about the diseases, so they are reading matter which should not, perhaps, be read in close proximity to having a meal….

The articles can be read at the following websites. Live Science has Diarrhea and stomachaches plagued Roman soldiers stationed at Hadrian's Wall, discovery of microscopic parasites finds

The Daily Telegraph reported on the research in The grim reason Romans couldn’t defend Hadrian’s Wall

The most recent, and the most graphic, is from Boc-maintenance.co.uk and can be read at Analyses of latrines in Hadrian's Wall reveal that Roman soldiers lived exposed to highly troublesome intestinal parasites 1,800 years ago