Clearly in the nice part of town
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Also communal sponges instead of toilet paper.
this is the actually gross part
I have never understood how that was accepted by the users. Not having a choice would help, but seriously, how was it ok?
A bit of googling suggests it might be a myth. Thank God!
The alternative view is very much a minority view. Fact is that pre-modern societies engaged in a great many behaviors we would regard as less-than-sanitary. Some Romans swished urine to whiten their teeth, for gods’ sakes.
Granted. Still it’s a big difference between your own urine and someone else’s feces.
The practice wasn’t swishing one’s own urine.
I’m guessing there were little boys involved
The truth you might find more bizarre - the wealthy shipped in urine from people from modern-day Portugal, because it was believed that their climate and diet made for the most effective mouthwash-urine.
Would you rather not wipe, or rather use a sponge that someone else has used? How about on day 4398 of no other options?
Choices: communal sponge, or private pottery shards.
… I might choose the sponge, even knowing about germ theory. At least after the first few dozen pottery shards.
I wonder if you could bring some leaves off a tree from outside, or use a papyrus flyer you grabbed off the city wall. Whatever the options, I’ll bet that place reeked to high heaven.
I wonder if you could bring some leaves off a tree from outside, or use a papyrus flyer you grabbed off the city wall.
Doubt anyone would object to you bringing something in, though tearing off the city greenery may not be kosher. As for papyrus, I don’t know how comfortable it is compared to the alternatives, but there was cheap ‘low-grade’ papyrus used for wrapping. If papyrus is the route, I feel like it’s gonna be the cheap stuff.
Whatever the options, I’ll bet that place reeked to high heaven.
There was a Roman writer who lived on the same street as a public latrine who we have records of bitching about the smell (understandably). I thought it was Cicero, but if it is him, I can’t find it at the moment.
We used to dig a variation of these in the field when I was in the army. We called them screen latrines, and they were awful. I’d much rather have just gone out in the forest, but you can’t do that with 40 people, or the place quickly becomes a disease center.
“The more things change, the more they stay the same”
Someday, Space Marines will be digging shit ditches on Mars.
Mmmm cursed sponge cake 😋
GROUP POOP
It’s kind of awkward and doesn’t feel good until you start holding hands.
I refuse to believe they didnt have stalls. Im sure they had thin wooden, fabric or thatch stall walls which were semi-disposable and dismantlable for cleaning. I think these just didn’t survive the way the stone foundations did.
There just isn’t a scenario where it would be socially acceptable for a bunch of people shitting together with no barrier between them…
Oh ho, that’s where you’re wrong! We have a lot of literary evidence, even, of the toilets being a place for socialization! The Roman poet Martial even pens a short bit of verse (Epigrams, Book 11, 77) making fun of a man who waits in the public latrines hoping to get a dinner invitation from one of the people passing through!
The past is often a weird place!
Socializing in the toilet? ! I forbid it!
What’s socially acceptable is very different in each society.
This still happens in many countries…
This is real, I’ve been to restrooms like this in multiple countries. When you got to go, you got to go.
Makes cleaning easier, you can spray it all down, and no funny business, since everyone is in your business.
Also when your squatting, your shorts/pants gather at or above your knees giving a bit of a privacy screen (a BIT).
There just isn’t a scenario where it would be socially acceptable for a bunch of people shitting together with no barrier between them…
Oh boy, you’ve lived a very sheltered life. This still happens today in a variety of scenarios.
I’m less concerned about the co-op pooping but more about the amount of latrines. Is this for a whole army to shit at once? Or is this a sanitary thing, where each individual latrine is used less therefore is more hygienic overall.
Many people, even artisans, would not have had home plumbing, so cities often had large public latrines. At home you’d use a chamberpot, but obviously you wouldn’t want that hanging around too long, so a quick jog to the latrines would often be preferable - and your workplace almost certainly wouldn’t waste any space on toilets.
It’s for when everyone comes at the same time when there’s a half time in the games.
