At school, they will never tell this, but that does not mean that it was not. It's just that things like this can hurt a child's psyche. And the psyche of adults too.
Great Ancient Rome - the civilization of the conquerors, the birthplace of democracy (on a par with Ancient Greece) and in general an example of everything noble … or not?
Let's not lie to ourselves, the history of Ancient Rome is not only nobility, philosophers and expansion. This is also everyday life and everyday life, which may well shock you with their details.
Fact 1: Piss fetish
In Rome, a small need was actually a small business - taxes were imposed on the sale of urine, so you understand. There were people who only earned money by selling urine. Moreover, not necessarily her own - she was collected in public toilets using special vats (I don't even want to know how exactly). Why was there such a stir around the urine? Well, even if Gennady Malakhov was not born at that time, but the Romans lived according to his precepts. For example, they cleaned clothes with urine (it's scary to think about the smell that these clothes then exuded), moreover in a very … amusing way - the workers filled the vat with clothes, and then poured it with urine. After that, one person climbed into the vat and stomped on the clothes to wash them. But if the matter was limited only to clothes … the Romans believed that if you want snow-white teeth,There was no better mouthwash than urine. Such things, yes.
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Fact 2: It was still a long way from toilet paper …
You know, Rome and its people could give shape to many in the field of plumbing. They did not have creepy cesspools, but there was a completely working sewerage system and public toilets … the idea of which later did not want to be adopted by any future civilization. And all because the conditions of hygiene were there … but there were no conditions there!
They brought special combs to the toilet, which smelled like a hundred corpses, to comb out the lice (yes, the latrines there were simply full of all kinds of creeping scum), but even this was not the worst … Rome, of course, invented a lot of things, but toilet paper was not included to this list. Instead, they used a sponge … one … for all … in a public, damn it, toilet. And not all of those who visited the room of meditation cleaned it.
Fact 3: The toilet could have been your grave
As you can imagine, Roman latrines were not the best place in the world. And there it was really possible to die - the sewer system was inhabited by all sorts of reptiles and parasites, who strove to snatch you for … however, you yourself must understand why. But even this was not the main problem.
Methane accumulated in the sewers, which … no, did not explode, but quite poisoned people who could die, frankly, in an unpleasant form.
Fact 4: Blood, Blood, Blood
Roman medicine is a separate conversation, and someday I will definitely write about it, but now we will dwell on only one point. You know about gladiator fights? Well, the blood of the killed gladiators was collected and sold, and all because the ancient Romans believed that its use could help with a bunch of diseases - from the same epilepsy, for example.
And this is not the worst example, no. In other cases, the liver of a deceased soldier was cut out and eaten … raw. And the worst thing is that the notorious placebo effect worked, there are even records where Roman doctors quite seriously noted that the patient was cured. So it goes.
Fact 5: so-so cosmetics
Now young ladies can fall into frills if they find out that a seed, for example, a horse was used in some cream (or rather, a horse, which is already here). But in Rome, the ladies were not so sissy, and, to be honest, horses were not particularly trusted there. Gladiator cosmetics are another matter. But not dead, no. From the living. Before the battle, the gladiators were coated with oil and other creams and incense, and then it was scraped off … along with the dead epidermis (the tool with which this was done, by the way, was called strigil). And … not to waste the good? In general, all this was sold to the ladies in the form of … an aphrodisiac, which was guaranteed to attract a male. Whether it worked or not is a good question, but the business was very smooth.
Fact 6: Pornography was not invented in Germany
In principle, it was invented before Ancient Rome appeared (to be honest, it was invented when people still lived in caves and could not really speak), but there this art was elevated to a certain rank, so to speak. Have you heard of Pompeii? Well, the same city that was wiped off the face of the earth by the volcano Vesuvius. Well, when they excavated there, they found a lot of um … sensual art. So sensual that they did not even dare to show it to the public right away (it was not 2018 in the yard, you know - morals and all that).
For example, you could see a statue of Pan copulating with a goat (well, you have already seen it and, she gd, excuse me for showing you this). In addition, the city was full of prostitutes, which was reflected on … the sidewalks. And today you can visit the ruins of Pompeii and see what the Romans saw every day - penises carved in the roads that showed the way to the nearest … brothel. These are the pointers, yeah.
Fact 7: Luck is in your … hands
The topic of penises was quite popular in Rome (and in our society it is popular among a certain circle of people). Their images could be found literally everywhere, they were even often worn around the neck (well, not real, of course - figurines, carved …).
In Rome, it was fashionable among young men to wear copper penises on a necklace. It was believed that they were not only fashionable and stylish, but also could "prevent harm" that could be done to the people who wore them (in our days, everything would be exactly the opposite).
Also penises "for good luck" were drawn in dangerous places to protect travelers. For example, images of penises were painted almost everywhere on decrepit and rickety bridges in Rome. It looks especially funny when these days you go into the entrance and see the famous three letters drawn in any way. They thought - obscenity and lack of culture, but no - a talisman, so to speak. Everything is according to the precepts of Ancient Rome …
Fact 8: Exposing … buttocks
No, this indecent gesture was not a tradition. But for the first time in history, the exposure of the buttocks was recorded (in writing!) In Ancient Rome.
The Jewish priest Josephus Flavius first described the demonstration of the buttocks during the riot in Jerusalem. During Passover, Roman soldiers were sent to the walls of Jerusalem to watch for an uprising.
One of these soldiers, according to Josephus, "turned his back to the city wall, lowered his pants, bent down and uttered a shameless sound." The Jews were furious. They demanded that the soldier be punished and then began throwing stones at the Roman soldiers. Riots soon erupted in Jerusalem, and the gesture remained for thousands of years.
Fact 9: Gluttony
Now it is customary to consider some Englishmen to be gluttons (who are not even in the top ten fattest, yeah), but even they were far from the Romans … They loved to eat so much that when they overeat and did not go down the throat, then with the help of a feather all peacock because of its length) caused … vomiting.
And that's all, you could feast on. Bon appetit, friends!
Fact 10: Very shitty drink …
Yes, that's what you thought. But in a slightly different context.
The Romans did not have bandages, but they found an original way to stop bleeding from wounds. According to Pliny the Elder, people in Rome covered their abrasions and wounds with goat dung. Pliny wrote that the best goat droppings were collected during the spring and dried, but fresh goat droppings were suitable in emergencies. But this is far from the most disgusting way to use this "product".
The charioteers drank it as a source of energy. They either diluted boiled goat dung in vinegar or stirred it in their drinks. And this was done not only by poor people. According to Pliny, the biggest fanatic of drinking goat dung was the Emperor Nero. However, this is not an indicator, especially when you consider what Nero was like during his lifetime …
Well, that came to an end the first ten not too pleasant, but extremely interesting facts from the life of Ancient Rome. By the way, if you doubt the authenticity of the facts - encyclopedias will help you, there you will find confirmation, however, I do not think that it will please you (I was not happy).
Bogdan Semyonov