By Caroline Lawrence
The ancient Romans were sophisticated in surprising ways. Take going to the bathroom, for example. In first century Rome, there were over one hundred public latrines, many of them with marble seats, scenes from Greek mythology on the walls, running water and ancient Roman toilet paper provided.
But what DID they use for toilet paper? Well, you could use a leaf, a handful of moss or your left hand! But what most Romans used was something called a spongia, a sea-sponge on a long stick. The stick was long because of the design of Roman toilets. Public facilities had a long marble bench with holes on top – for the obvious thing – and holes at the front: for the sponge-sticks. There were no doors or dividing walls. You sat right next to your friend and did what you had to do.
Most Romans wore tunics (a garment like a long tee-shirt) and probably nothing underneath. So you could just hike it up in back and sit on the cool marble seat, leaving the front of the tunic to cover your knees and your modesty. You would sit there, chatting with your friends, and when you finished your ‘task’ you would rinse the sponge in the channel of running water at your feet and – without standing up or revealing anything – you would push the spongia through the hole at the front, give your bottom a wipe, rinse off the spongia… and leave it in a basin for the next person to use!
Gotta love those ancient Romans.
For further reading:
As the Romans Did, by JoAnn Shelton
Pompeii, by Peter Connolly
Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome, by Adkins & Adkins
Caroline Lawrence is the author of the Roman Mysteries series. Visit her website at www.romanmysteries.com.
IMAGE: Picture of Ostia toilets
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What a great article. I remember looking at the toilets at Herculenium and understanding the pear-shaped hole on the horizontal surface, now I know why there would be a similar opening on the front, vertical surface. Great post!
The Greek word for a sponge on a stick is ξυλοσπόγγιον, xylosphongium in Latin: for the sources on this fascinating aspect of human life, see the excellent blog at see http://bit.ly/tRQ9a.
Find out more about Roman toilets HERE
Fascinating!
think about Jesus on the cross, in luke (23:36) he said the guards mocked him and offered him vinegar (which is what they used to disinfect the ,often used, sponges) and in matthew 27:48 it is actually stated that someone ran and got a sponge, filled it with vinegar, put it on a stick, and put it to jesus’ lips for him to drink.
I’ve always seen that as an act of compassion, until i read this article, sounds as though i was mistaken. God Bless, Ko
In Brent Shaw, Spartacus and the Slave Wars (Bedford/St. Martin’s), there’s a story of a gladiator using the sponge and long stick too. I’m surprised citizens would use the same thing. In that story, by the way, the gladiator used his bathroom visit to kill himself, because it was the only moment he wasn’t under supervision. He rammed that stick down his throat, which says something about how much he loved those ancient Romans.
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