Sponge On A Stick Roman Toilet

Public facilities had a long marble bench with holes on top for the obvious thing and holes at the front.

Sponge on a stick roman toilet.

Horrible histories if you owners want to removed this video please contact us directly. The most famous example of ancient toilet paper comes from the roman world. After the collapse of the roman empire toilet technology came to a bit of a standstill the book reads. The tersorium was shared by people using public latrines.

Among tools people used in the past were moss sponge on a stick ceramic pieces and bamboo spatulas. In ancient rome these were used to wipe yourself after going to the toilet. The xylospongium or tersorium also known as sponge on a stick was a hygienic utensil used by ancient romans to wipe their anus after defecating consisting of a wooden stick greek. When you finished doing your business you took the sponge on a stick wet it in the fresh water that flowed in that channel we spoke of on the floor.

This was a sea sponge attached to a long stick. The stick has a loop of leather at one end. Here s how it worked. σπόγγος spongos fixed at one end.

Here is a picture of an ancient roman restroom to help with the imagination and here is a 2 minute smithsonian video with some riveting information and visuals you will notice that the roman toilet opening extended downward in a keyhole shape which allowed for insertion of the famed sponge on a stick for wiping. The stick was long because of the design of roman toilets. To clean the sponge they simply washed it in a bucket with water. Roman public toilets consisted of a long marble bench with holes at the top to sit on and holes at the front for the sponge sticks.

ξύλον xylon with a sea sponge greek. If you look carefully at the illustrations you can see the gutters just in front of the seats where sea water ran continuously so they could rinse their. Well you could use a leaf a handful of moss or your left hand. Toilet paper did not exist in roman times so the romans used a spongia instead.

In absence of toilette paper the butts cleaning device was a wooden stick with a sponge attached at one of the ends often literally a sea sponge or some type of cloth or animal wool. We will respectfully remove it. Sponge on a stick the roman toilet paper. You had a sponge that was on the end of a stick.

But instead of reaching for a roll of toilet paper an ancient roman would often grab a tersorium or in my technical terms a toilet brush for your butt.