Usually, ordinary people associate Ancient Rome with famous myths and ancient architecture. Heroic men in golden armor and in chariots, charming ladies in tunics and Democratic emperors ate grapes in their lounges. But the reality in ancient Rome, as historians testify, was not so rosy and glamorous. Sanitation and medicine were at an embryonic level, and this could not but affect the life of Roman citizens.
1. Mouthwash
People rinsed their mouths with urine
In ancient Rome, small need was such a developed business that the government introduced special taxes on the sale of urine. There were people who only made a living by collecting urine. Some collected it in public urinals, while others went from house to house with a large vat asking people to fill it up. It is difficult to imagine the ways of using the collected urine today. For example, they cleaned her clothes.
Workers filled a vat with clothes and then doused them with urine. After that, one person climbed into the vat and stomped on the clothes to wash them. But that's nothing compared to the way the Romans brushed their teeth. In some areas, people have used urine as a mouthwash. It has been claimed that this makes the teeth shiny and white.
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2. General sponge
General wiping sponge
Rome has always been praised for its achievements in the field of plumbing. Roman cities had public toilets and sewage systems, which subsequent societies did not have for many centuries. At first glance, this sounds like the tragic death of advanced technology, but as it turns out, there was a significant reason why no one used Roman inventions in the plumbing industry. Public toilets were disgusting. Archaeologists believe that toilets in Rome were almost never cleaned, so they were simply infested with parasites.
In fact, the Romans, when going to the toilet, took with them special combs designed to comb out lice. And the worst happened after people relieved themselves of great need. Each public toilet, which was usually visited by dozens of other people at the same time, had only one sponge on a stick, which was used for wiping. However, the sponge was never cleaned and was used by all visitors.
3. Explosions of methane
Toilets exploded regularly
Every time a person entered a Roman toilet, he risked dying. The first problem was that creatures living in the sewer system often crawled out and bit people while they were fulfilling their needs. An even worse problem was the accumulation of methane, which sometimes accumulated in such quantities that it ignited and exploded.
The toilets were so dangerous that people used magic to try and stay alive. The walls of many toilets were riddled with magic spells designed to scare away demons. Also in some toilets there were statues of the goddess of luck Fortune, to whom people prayed when entering.
4. Blood of gladiators
Gladiator blood was used as medicine
There were many eccentricities in Roman medicine. Several Roman authors have reported that after gladiatorial battles the blood of dead gladiators was often collected and sold as medicine. The Romans believed that gladiatorial blood could cure epilepsy and drank it as medicine.
And this was still a relatively civilized example. In other cases, the liver of dead gladiators was completely cut out and eaten raw. Ironically, some Roman physicians actually report that this treatment worked. They claim to have seen people drinking human blood and recovering from epileptic seizures.
5. Dead flesh cosmetics
Women rubbed dead gladiator skin cells into their faces
While defeated gladiators became a cure for epileptics, victors became a source of aphrodisiacs. In Roman times, soap was quite rare, so athletes cleaned themselves by covering their bodies with oil and scraping off dead skin cells, as well as sweat and dirt with a tool called a shear.
As a rule, all this dirt was simply thrown away, but not in the case of gladiators. Their scrapings of dirt and dead skin were bottled and sold to women as an aphrodisiac. It was also often added to face creams used by women in the hopes of being irresistible to men.
6. Erotic art
Pompeii was overflowing with indecent art
The volcanic eruption that buried Pompeii left this city perfectly preserved for archaeologists. When scientists first began excavating in Pompeii, they found things that were so obscene that they were hidden from the public for years. The city was full of erotic art in its craziest forms.
For example, one could see a statue of Pan copulating with a goat. In addition, the city was full of prostitutes, which was reflected on … the sidewalks. Even today, you can visit the ruins of Pompeii and see what the Romans saw every day - penises carved in the roads that led to the nearest brothel.
7. Penises "for good luck"
Dangerous spots were marked with penis drawings for good luck
The topic of penises was quite popular in Rome, in contrast to modern society. Their images could be found literally everywhere, they were even often worn around the neck. In Rome it was considered fashionable among young men to wear copper penises on a necklace. It was believed that they were not only fashionable and stylish, but could also "prevent harm" that could cause the people who wore them.
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.
8. Exposure of the buttocks
Romans were the first in history to show buttocks
Rome is unique in that for the first time in history there has been written evidence of the exposure of the buttocks. 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.
9. Artificial vomiting
The Romans vomited to keep eating
The Romans took the concept of excess in everything to a new level. According to Seneca, the Romans ate at banquets until they simply “didn’t fit more,” and then they artificially induced vomiting to continue eating. Some people vomited into the bowls that they kept near the table, but others did not "bother" and tore right on the floor next to the table, and then continued to eat.
10. Goat dung drink
The charioteers drank an energy drink made from goat dung
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 the Romans used 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. Moreover, this was done not only by poor people. According to Pliny, the biggest fanatic of drinking goat dung was the Emperor Nero.