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Explanation: The ancient Romans used the xylospongium or tersorium for wiping purposes - a sea sponge on a stick. How lovely! In public restrooms, they would have been shared, which is probably not all that hygienic regardless of the fact that they rinsed the sponge after each use, or let it soak in vinegar or salt water when idle. Still, civilization! What marvels, right?
In other news: Romans didn't need fecal transplants
Doctors hate this one trick!
Ave! Yes, I know I smell a little bad, I just went for an early morning sewer swim.
I believe that historians now lean towards the explanation that those were used as toilet brushes, not for the asshole.
The toilet brush position is very much a fringe view in academia and would require some rather intense explaining away of what we know about the tersorium.
Don't we still use those? We just switched from sponge to brush. That's what that brush on a stick next to the toilet is for, right?
the plunger is to help with constipation
what? it's not a shared toothbrush?
What if You ate something so spicy, that it burns Your asshole. Would the communal sponge burn the next person?
What a great question! The Roman empire fell in the 400s CE if I remember right. It was about a thousand years later that peppers first showed up in Europe. So that would not have been a concern.
But if it had, it would depend on what it was rinsed in and how well it was rinsed. Vinegar can help neutralize the heat from capsaicin. Saltwater can help because of the way salt interacts to make it more water soluble. Regular water wouldn't really help.
I seem to remember reading vinegar was used between sponge uses so the burn issue could have been known and solved in antiquity by that.
Also, while new world peppers weren't available during the Roman Empire the old world had black pepper, long pepper, horseradish and likely other "hot" spices were available to old world peoples.
I wasn't thinking about piperine based spicy foods. That makes me wonder how much piperine it would take to burn your bum.
My assumption is that vinegar isn't for the possible spiciness, it's that it would help neutralize the smell.
I just realized mustard may have been another option for hot spiciness in antiquity.
If you can't get anything spicy, the kernels of rose hips can be used as a devilish itching powder.
asking the real questions over here
Imagine putting tabasco on the communal sponge
so you are telling me ancient rome was just one huge intestinal fauna. no wonder they were so successful.
They also successfully spread Mediterranean fish parasites to the Atlantic by eating loads of rotten fish guts, sharing poop sticks, and then flushing the waste into the ocean. Civilization stronk 💪
It's why they never found much success crossing the Danube. The Germans were better at poop, and remain so to this day.
Japan wants a word
Bidet and soft toilet paper, it’s so easy these days.