The INFAMOUS communal Roman BUTT SPONGE

The ancient Romans used many items as a means of cleaning themselves in the latrine--rocks, pottery, rags, but most famous of all is the xylospongium, the "sponge on a stick".

SOURCES:
The Archaeology of Sanitation in Roman Italy: Toilets, Sewers, & Water Systems, Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow

[TheFallofRome]

You can all thank my wife, Neely, for asking (forcing) me to do this horrific topic!

[veeu]

I imagine people would try to carry their own rags or pottery shards to use in the public toilets, rather than borrow the communal sponge.

[theliato]

The roman commitment to community was so great that they would use shared sponges. Such unity allowed the romans to conquer a great deal of the known world and leave their mark on history.

[bc]

"I wash myself with a sponge on a stick." (allegedly)

Bartius Simpsonius

[adamfox]

How fitting. Watched this video on my phone while sitting on the bowl. Looked over at my roll of TP on the spindle and gave thanks for living in modern times.

[justinianthegreat]

Finally...the episode we've all been waiting for. Indeed its a question that needs to be "probed" deeply.

[albertconstantine]

Thank you for plunging forward and wiping away so many misconceptions!

Well, I chose a fun video to watch during my lunch break.

[jakebradnock]

"If you feel something tickling you" NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE

[toecutterjones]

I always try to pass it to the other stalls but they never accept my butt sponge.

[greenmedic]

"This was just full of maybes, possiblys, ifs, and we don't knows." And also buts. We simply cannot overlook the buts. 

Factual evidence aside, it was on a stick. It's not as if Roman citizens were actually touching the communal sponge with their hands. Because that would just be unsanitary.

[alecity]

Seneca you didn't have to make me imagine such flavour.

[viatorinterra]

despite how exaggerated popular histories present events and stuff, the real deal turns out much worse or much more interesring

[atomic_wait]

Sounds like the three sea shells weren't all that absurd after all?

[mei.mei]

The ancient Romans believed that sour wine (aka vinegar) is a great antiseptic, and it's believed that that's what they used to soak the sponges between wipes to "sanitise". When Jesus hung on the cross and was offered a drink of vinegar-soaked sponge on a stick, it's possible that it was a xylospongium, a sign of ultimate humiliation.

[AhmetwithaT]

When I asked about how deep did these things go I've never thought the answer would be all the way to your throat.

[nhop_]

The toilet paper panic of late 2019 - early 2020 makes much more sense now lol

[williamromine]

This a late comment, but I just discovered your channel.

People can't imagine using a sponge. My father grew up in rural Oklahoma, having been born in 1918(I was born in 1942), and he talked about using corn cobs. This was after the corn had been eaten, of course. He said there was a bin beside the outhouse filled with cobs. He said they worked very well, especially when fresh(they were a little rough as they dried out). I never asked if they were used more than once, but got the impression they were thrown down the hole after use. I would think a sponge would clean up rather well if rinsed in the flowing water after each use.

You have an interesting channel. I have a lot of videos to go thru.

[randomobserver]

Ah yes, I remember back in the day when one ascended the cursus honorum and at last achieved the rank of consul, if one did, one was handed the sash and the rod of office, and the personal, private buttsponge granted for life only to the most senior magistrates of the republic. It only enhanced one's status to sit regally and still in front of the senate as the conscript fathers shifted their bottoms back and forth for hours to settle the itching.

[Herrikias]

After that tidbit about ring worms living in the sponges, I wonder if there was any means to actually sterilize the things. Did they know about the cleaning powers of vinegar, and even if they did was it worth wasting it on cleaning their sponges? Did they have to soak them in old pee instead?

All you did was make me more curious!