That channel in front of the latrines would be used to give the sponge a rinse between uses; after a user was done wiping, they’d put it back into a bucket full of salt water or vinegar (or some mixture thereof).
In any case, it’s a great way to pass along parasites. 😬
Do we know for certain they actually wiped with the sponge? Because I can imagine the sponge merely being used to transfer water from the central container to the cupped hand which is then used to clean their anus like in many cultures today. A sponge-on-a-stick having better reach from the seated position than a small jug, and no risk of breaking upon dropping nor theft. I feel like the disgust at the idea of smearing feces between strangers would be just as strong 2000 years ago as it is today.
Do we know for certain they actually wiped with the sponge?
Fairly certain. There are alternate theories, but the most accepted one is still that the sponge was used for wiping.
A sponge-on-a-stick having better reach from the seated position than a small jug, and no risk of breaking upon dropping nor theft.
… sponge-on-a-stick feels pretty stealable, at least as much as a jug. Wealthier folk would sometimes have a slave carry a personal ass-sponge for them in case they had to use the public latrines while out, which seems, to me, also to point towards the ass-wiping interpretation.
I feel like the disgust at the idea of smearing feces between strangers would be just as strong 2000 years ago as it is today.
You would be surprised at what different standards the past had. The Romans, indisputably, swished urine to whiten their teeth. And not their own urine either.
Hygiene, in general, was not viewed as strictly as we do in the modern day. Obsessive hygiene is a product of the mid-late 19th century AD and germ theory, and even then, it took quite some time to catch on in the general population. There’s a short satirical poem(? if memory serves) in the time of the Roman Empire making fun of a guy who shows up to the bath-house with an unwashed ass. While this shows that such a thing was unusual and worth mocking, it also shows that it’s the kind of thing that could happen. You may be sharing ass-water with a guy in the public baths, it’s just life.
Define ‘cleaned’?
That channel in front of the latrines would be used to give the sponge a rinse between uses; after a user was done wiping, they’d put it back into a bucket full of salt water or vinegar (or some mixture thereof).
In any case, it’s a great way to pass along parasites. 😬
Well that’s cleaner than I first thought.
On one hand, a lot of trivia like this you have to sit back and say, “Well, they didn’t do too bad, with what they had.”
And on the other hand, you have to cringe hard and feel thankful you live in the modern day. No shared butt-sponge for me, thank you!
Yeah! We lick each other clean, like civilized beings.
I need my easy modern life, thank you. I am way too used to a bidet to go to a sponge on a stick.
Do we know for certain they actually wiped with the sponge? Because I can imagine the sponge merely being used to transfer water from the central container to the cupped hand which is then used to clean their anus like in many cultures today. A sponge-on-a-stick having better reach from the seated position than a small jug, and no risk of breaking upon dropping nor theft. I feel like the disgust at the idea of smearing feces between strangers would be just as strong 2000 years ago as it is today.
Fairly certain. There are alternate theories, but the most accepted one is still that the sponge was used for wiping.
… sponge-on-a-stick feels pretty stealable, at least as much as a jug. Wealthier folk would sometimes have a slave carry a personal ass-sponge for them in case they had to use the public latrines while out, which seems, to me, also to point towards the ass-wiping interpretation.
You would be surprised at what different standards the past had. The Romans, indisputably, swished urine to whiten their teeth. And not their own urine either.
Hygiene, in general, was not viewed as strictly as we do in the modern day. Obsessive hygiene is a product of the mid-late 19th century AD and germ theory, and even then, it took quite some time to catch on in the general population. There’s a short satirical poem(? if memory serves) in the time of the Roman Empire making fun of a guy who shows up to the bath-house with an unwashed ass. While this shows that such a thing was unusual and worth mocking, it also shows that it’s the kind of thing that could happen. You may be sharing ass-water with a guy in the public baths, it’s just life.
You are supposed to give it a good rinse.