The Ancient Romans were known for their relative cleanliness in comparison to other ancient peoples, and especially in comparison to medieval man. They had the public baths for bathing. These popular sites were cheap enough for even the poor to visit weekly, if not daily. Plus, the baths offered more than bathing to lure customers. There were shops, steam rooms, and areas for socializing. Ancient Rome also had an efficient sewer system. The wealthy had flush toilets, but the poor could use public toilets located throughout the city. These facilities may have been gender neutral. There were no stalls. Instead, you sat on a stone bench with holes in it. In lieu of toilet paper, the patrons used a sponge on a stick. The sponge, which was shared by everyone, was either cleaned in a gutter that had running water or was placed in a bucket with salt water in it. The toilets emptied into an elaborate sewer system called the cloaca maxima (“greatest sewer”). It emptied into the Tiber River. This explains why the Romans went to so much trouble building aqueducts to bring fresh water into the city. Some archeologists question how hygienic the toilets and sewer system were considering the parasites and critters like lice that would have thrived where you sat. Not to mention the possibility of something climbing up the hole while you sat. There is even some evidence that the abundance of methane caused fires below the streets of Rome. And possibly below your derriere.
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