But instead of reaching for a roll of toilet paper, an ancient Roman would often grab a tersorium (or, in my technical terms, a “toilet brush for your butt”). A tersorium is an ingenious little device made by attaching a natural sponge (from the Mediterranean Sea, of course) to the end of a stick.
A sponge on a stick
If you went to the toilet in ancient Rome, you would not have any toilet paper. Instead you may have used a sponge (Latin: tersorium) to wipe. These ancient devices consisted of a stick with a vinegar- or salt water-soaked sponge attached. They were often shared!
The Romans used a variety of tools for writing. Everyday writing could be done on wax tablets or thin leaves of wood. Documents, like legal contracts, were usually written in pen and ink on papyrus. Books were also written in pen and ink on papyrus or sometimes on parchment.
The Romans brought aqueducts, heated public baths, flushing toilets, sewers and piped water. They even had multiseat public bathrooms decked out with contour toilet seats, a sea sponge version of toilet paper and hand-washing stations.
The Romans had a complex system of sewers covered by stones, much like modern sewers. Waste flushed from the latrines flowed through a central channel into the main sewage system and thence into a nearby river or stream.
The Romans cleaned their behinds with sea sponges attached to a stick, and the gutter supplied clean flowing water to dip the sponges in. This soft, gentle tool was called a tersorium, which literally meant “a wiping thing.”
Swaddles as nappies
Back in the day, in Roman times, a gent named Soranus (not even kidding) suggested that babies be swaddled in soft cloth. The cloth would soak up the pee and poop and presumably be changed fairly often.
The ancient Romans also practiced dental hygiene.
They used frayed sticks and abrasive powders to brush their teeth. These powders were made from ground-up hooves, pumice, eggshells, seashells, and ashes.
Small bathhouses, called balneum (plural balnea), might be privately owned, while they were public in the sense that they were open to the populace for a fee. Larger baths called thermae were owned by the state and often covered several city blocks.
Throughout the countryside, Romans, including women and enslaved people, would wash every day and would have a thorough bath on every feast day if not more often. In Rome itself, baths were taken daily.
Roman toilets didn't flush. Some of them were tied into internal plumbing and sewer systems, which often consisted of just a small stream of water running continuously beneath the toilet seats.
Not even the Greeks and Romans, who pioneered running water and public baths, used soap to clean their bodies. Instead, men and women immersed themselves in water baths and then smeared their bodies with scented olive oils. They used a metal or reed scraper called a strigil to remove any remaining oil or grime.
Ancient Greeks are said to have used small pieces of clay or stones (ouch) to wash up after relieving themselves. The Ancient Romans, on the other hand, classed it up a bit by using a piece of sponge on a long stick. The only downside was that the sponge was shared by the entire community. Barf.
We're going to start with the Stone Age (about a million years ago for all you Gen Z's reading). Butt wiping in the Stone Age started off on a rocky road (pardon the pun) as yes you may have guessed it, for thousands of years stones were the go-to wiping method.
This is odd, given that human beings have been using what amounts to unisex facilities since the first humans walked upright. Public baths and toilets, many “gender neutral," were the norm in ancient Rome.
Empty rolls AGAIN?!!
Egyptians think we foreigners are the gross ones. While we stick (sometimes, quite literally) to toilet paper, Egyptians have their beloved shatafa.
Although it is not known for sure what the Romans wore while bathing, it is believed that they probably wore a light covering called a subligaculum along with special sandals that had very thick soles.
Children were not allowed in. The bathhouse cost very little to get in, so people used them often. The men and the women both used the bathhouse, but at different times during the day. Each group had a scheduled time, although the women's scheduled time was shorter.
If you were wealthy, you might even bring more than one slave along, as parading your slaves at the baths was a way to show your elevated social status. Slaves washed their masters and mistresses at the baths.
The Romans contributed greatly to civilization — roads, cement, aqueducts, the postal service — but not all of their creations lived to the present day, and some deservedly so. Ancient Romans used to use both human and animal urine as mouthwash in order to whiten their teeth.
The Romans actually used a mixture of goat milk and stale urine to try to keep their teeth white. The urine's ammonia served as a bleaching agent. During the medieval times, it was thought that worms caused tooth decay.
Not even the Greeks and Romans, who pioneered running water and public baths, used soap to clean their bodies. Instead, men and women immersed themselves in water baths and then smeared their bodies with scented olive oils. They used a metal or reed scraper called a strigil to remove any remaining oil or grime.
The inner bark of Eucalyptus capitellata or Brown Stringybark was used as tinder for lighting fires especially in wet weather when other wood was wet. The soft inner bark of Melaleuca quinquenervia was used for babies' nappies.
Slave children primarily belonged to the master and were every so often his own biological children. These Roman slave children grew up and played with masters legal, free, and favored children.
Each time a baby was unswaddled, dry linen was used. Inuit people in the colder climates of Alaska, Greenland, Canada, and Siberia placed moss around a baby's bottom and then covered it with sealskin to help both keep the baby dry and insulate the scarce heat that is essential for survival in these rigid climates.