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Ancient (specifically Roman) civilizations had fantastic systems to transport water and even developed indoor plumbing. They didn't need to augment their water
by peterwwillis 10y ago
Ancient (specifically Roman) civilizations had fantastic systems to transport water and even developed indoor plumbing. They didn't need to augment their water quality with wine. Wine was simply made ubiquitous due to their civilization determining that it should be enjoyed by everyone.
Of course there are stories of soldiers augmenting pond water with wine, but this could have been as much to make it more palatable as preventing oneself from getting sick.
Here's a paper that talks about Ancient thoughts on water: https://issuu.com/eajournal/docs/articulo_-_van_tillburg_-_drinking_ https://issuu.com/eajournal/docs/articulo_-_van_tillburg_-_d... Basically, humans have for a really freaking long time been able to determine whether water is basically more or less safe to drink, and have not really worried about it more than any other thing (and certainly not drank beer or wine because they feared for the quality of the water)
- mirimir 10y agoA counterexample is cholera. http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/choleratheories.html http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/choleratheories.html
- jahewson 10y agoIs it? I don't see how 19th century cholera outbreaks have anything to do with ancient civilisations.
- mirimir 10y agoBecause cholera existed before the 19th century, and people didn't understand that contaminated water was the cause?
- bigbugbag 10y agoCholera only existed in the old world and is a byproduct of animal domestication and urbanization[1]. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEYh5WACqEk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEYh5WACqEk
- peterwwillis 10y agoSo as late as the 19th century, people were just drinking regular water, believing there was nothing wrong with it. (This, plus the fountains and wells that have existed since antiquity as public places to both drink water and wash your hands... eww)