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From another article[1] on the topic by an archaeologist: "Even worse, these public latrines were notorious for terrifying customers when flames exploded from
by beloch 5y ago
From another article[1] on the topic by an archaeologist:
"Even worse, these public latrines were notorious for terrifying customers when flames exploded from their seat openings. These were caused by gas explosions of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and methane (CH4) that were rank as well as frightening. Customers also had to worry about rats and other small vermin threatening to bite their bottoms. And then there was the perceived threat of demons that the Romans believed inhabited these black holes leading to the mysterious underbelly of the city."
Sounds like it was far better if you could hold it until you got home to your own private toilet, which was probably in the kitchen right next to where your slaves were preparing your next meal[2].
[1] https://phys.org/news/2015-11-toilets-sewers-ancient-roman-sanitation.html https://phys.org/news/2015-11-toilets-sewers-ancient-roman-s...
[2] https://scx2.b-cdn.net/gfx/news/hires/2015/564dcb76b9497.jpeg https://scx2.b-cdn.net/gfx/news/hires/2015/564dcb76b9497.jpe...
- saganus 5y agoAny idea why would they put the latrines next to, or apparently even _inside_ the kitchen? I get that they might not haven been aware of germs or correlated bathrooms with disease or whatever, but just based on the odors alone, it seems a strange decision...
- voidfunc 5y agoYour slaves worked in the kitchen. Nobody cared too much whether it smelled.
- Koshkin 5y agoIt kind of does matter what the kitchen smells of.
- Pasorrijer 5y agoThis is entirely guessing. But if you were drilling a hole to the sewers, both the toilet and the kitchen needed a hole so that could greatly simplify plumbing and construction.
- kraftman 5y agoit says in the article above that most werent connected to the sewers
- coldacid 5y agoIt's still cheaper to dig one cesspit for your villla than two.
- fho 5y agoSounds reasonable ... I've been to some pre-WW2 city houses where the toilet and shower were directly next to the kitchen. Just running one set of pipes sounds like a good explanation for that.
- cblconfederate 5y agoprobably water was near.