Posted on 01/08/2016 1:49:16 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Good thing they had a warm climate. Sitting bare on a cold stone slab wouldn’t be too pleasant.
“However, new archaeological research has revealed that—for all their apparently hygienic innovations—intestinal parasites such as whipworm, roundworm and Entamoeba histolytica dysentery did not decrease as expected in Roman times compared with the preceding Iron Age, they gradually increased.”
Perhaps not, but Roman sanitation was the ONLY REASON they could pack so many people into their cities back then. Cholera and other parasites would have prevented (and probably did prevent) all other cultures from coming close to matching what they did.
But cool article anyway. Thanks for posting!
Whenever people bunched up in towns and cities, there tended to be a big increase in disease and parasite sharing.
The Roman sanitation and water supply kept it better than it would have been otherwise, enabling the world’s first city that exceeded a million people.
Almost looks like the toilets at Jordan Hare Stadium a few years back.
Friend of mine had to dump and every single one of the toilets in that stadium didn’t have a door. He got a lot of looks LOL!
And in another few decades they may start using them.
Considering the size of Roman cities - pretty remarkable.
Easy enough to have decent sanitation in a small Viking village...
And now, everywhere, mothers of young tykes are rethinking - is it really necessary to go through the ordeal of getting little Johnny to take his bath tonight? Then makes the decision: What difference, at this point, does it make? I’m too tired and need some sleep.
Aqueducts.
Actually the issue was probably the density of the population. At its peak Ancient Rome had a population of over 1 million. The proximity made the spread of parasites much easier.
Toilet paper? Where are the 3 shells?
Maybe if they cuss at the centurion...
If you were a big shot you had a seat warmer. A slave would go down to sit and take the chill out of your spot before you got there. It’s good to be the king.
“Fightin Whitey” Still got your t- shirt? “ Everything’s gonna be all white”.
Keep meaning to order a few then let it slide.
Should do it before the Dems outlaw wise-ass.
But how 'bout yerownself?
Who left the seat up?
Still got mine.
One remark, or knowing me, several paragraphs of remarks -- Romans didn't EAT out of the latrines, so obviously having those DID make a difference in the overall cleanliness of society. Someone joked, no toilet paper, and that is true, but finer homes had a little trough where water ran by, and a brush was in tat trough 24/7. The brush was used to, uh, in lieu of, well you see what they did with it, then placed it back in the trough. The upshot is, by and large, ancient (and not-so-ancient) societies had a high tolerance for butt-funk.
The reason for parasites is, they didn't know they had them, didn't have treatment for them (other than taking non-lethal doses of poison for various purposes, such as anxiety, getting some sleep, just getting high), and thanks to the economic prosperity that characterized most of the Roman era, there was more meat in the diet, and they didn't have the kind of pure food and drug act inspections that the US has had for just over a hundred years now. I'd love to see the same effin' archaeologists study the old outhouse sites and 19th c dumps, and see what they find there.
I posted a bunch, as you've realized by now, in any old order, but am pinging them in alpha order, just for laughs. One exception is the next one, about Knossos, which you'll have seen first, because I want to take a little more time with that one, it's pretty fascinating IMHO. Anyway, have a great weekend, all!
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