Instead of toilet paper, Ancient Romans used a sponge on the end of a long stick that was shared by everyone in the community. This device was called a Tersorium.
This soft, gentle tool was called a tersorium, which literally meant “a wiping thing.”
The Romans had two primary ways to clean themselves post-bathroom break. Option one was the tersorium, which was “used to clean the buttocks after defecation.”
Imagine a loofah, but made of fresh sea sponge, attached to a wooden rod—similar to back-washers sold in drugstores today. 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”).
After using the stick to aim and the sponge to wipe, the person would dunk the sponge in a bucket full of water ,heavily salted sea water or vinegar to clean it off for the next user in the community Latrine .
While water wouldn’t do much in terms of sterilization by modern standards, vinegar would prove much more—if not totally—effective.
The word “latrine,” or latrina in Latin, was used to describe a private toilet in someone’s home, usually constructed over a cesspit.
Public toilets
were called foricae. They were often attached to public baths, whose water was used to flush down the filth.
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