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The secret history of ancient toilets


Still Waters

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By scouring the remains of early loos and sewers, archaeologists are finding clues to what life was like in the Roman world and in other civilizations.

Some 2,000 years ago, a high-ceilinged room under of one of Rome's most opulent palaces was a busy, smelly space. Inside the damp chamber, a bench, perforated by about 50 holes the size of dinner plates, ran along the walls. It may have supported the bottoms of some of the lowest members of Roman society.

http://www.nature.com/news/the-secret-history-of-ancient-toilets-1.19960

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there is probably still a remaining odor, a dog would be able to notice. the romans had a different culture in the way they viewed sex, and nudity. Remember, this is when Christians were being fed to lions in the Coliseum for entertainment. As far as modesty or the values we presently have, Romans weren't practicing. Incest, parents having sex with their children, soldiers taking young boys with them, on their campaigns. They took baths in one large swimming pool. Nudity in public, was no big thing. The slit in the block in front of the hole, on the lower boulder, maybe a type of handle that opened something to flush, in a way? it slants towards the back. So much room on each side of the seat hole. Do you think they brought a couple of friends along to keep them company, sit with whomever needed to visit the hole? Like something to do, " hey, come on, indentured servants, keep me company at the hole", something like that? 

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Very interesting article.  I think I've been to that toilet in Ostia they pictured.  I found this bit rather interesting:

The practice of throwing kitchen rubbish down toilets was unhygienic for the ancient Romans, but the remnants of that refuse are now a rich source of information. Rowan was surprised by the quality and variability of the foods in the Herculaneum sewer, especially because it was connected to an apartment complex that housed a large number of mostly poorer people. “We always think that anyone non-elite in the ancient world is not eating a very diverse or interesting diet,” she says. But the evidence from Herculaneum shows that people across the class spectrum were eating dozens of different types of food, most commonly figs, eggs, olives, grapes and shellfish. They flavoured their meals with seasonings such as dill, mint, coriander and mustard seeds5. “It would be quite healthy, and they'd be getting all their essential nutrients.”

It's tempting to think of urban poor as heavily restricted.  While this is in Herculaneum and not Rome proper, and thus not necessarily indicative of the poor in large cities, it's still interesting to see such a diversity of food stuffs.  Typically we think of an over-reliance on bread for the poor, but this shows that it may not be as much the case as we think (though it may differ in places like Rome with its grain doles).

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