Well, the sponge itself would be rinsed of fecal matter in running water, and the salt water/vinegar soak would have taken care of the rest. Smell (at least, the smell of the wiped Romans) wouldn’t have been a problem - transmission of parasite eggs from fecal matter, on the other hand? Probably a non-negligible issue.
Pre-germ-theory food handling and water source management always took a toll, so I’m guessing poo sponges were a relatively small part of the problem. Especially if the vinegar soak actually worked at all.
He also reviewed studies analyzing Rome’s ectoparasites — that is, parasites found on the outside of the body, such as fleas, lice and bedbugs — in textiles and combs.
Surprisingly, ectoparasites were just as common in the Roman Empire, where people regularly bathed, as they were in Viking and medieval populations — groups of people who didn’t bathe frequently, Mitchell found.
Now that is surprising. How hard is it to just delouse your shit before you put it back on?
Where possible the army arranged for the men to have baths in huge vats of hot water while their clothes were being put through delousing machines. Unfortunately, this rarely worked. A fair proportion of the eggs remained in the clothes and within two or three hours of the clothes being put on again a man’s body heat had hatched them out.
So how did that machine work? My search turned up a lot of stuff about it being a problem in the great wars, but urban Rome is a very a different beast, with much less science and much more leisure time and stability.
My first instinct is boiling water. The Romans would definitely have tried that, and few things can survive it, but I’d also guess their textiles wouldn’t have survived well. My next thought is smoke, which I guess they could have just missed, but then again maybe the pests are resistant to it. The eggs at least wouldn’t need to actively respire much. Salt maybe? Tiny things don’t generally deal well with the wrong salt concentrations.
In Auschwitz they used the same cyanide gas tablets as were used on the “prisoners”, but in much greater concentrations, which has become a source of supposed gotchas for denialists.
My search turned up a lot of stuff about it being a problem in the great wars, but urban Rome is a very a different beast, with much less science and much more leisure time and stability.
Not so sure about much more leisure time. Working class Romans would have been working sunup to sundown, while soldiers always have to fight long stretches of boredom, even in the chaos of the trenches.
My first instinct is boiling water. The Romans would definitely have tried that, and few things can survive it, but I’d also guess their textiles wouldn’t have survived well. My next thought is smoke, which I guess they could have just missed, but then again maybe they’re resistant to it. The eggs at least wouldn’t need to actively respire much. Salt maybe? Tiny things don’t generally deal well with the wrong salt concentrations.
Nit combs and oil rubs were the usual treatments. The oil can asphyxiate the bastards so you can catch them, but most’ll start breathing again after a while, so you still have to remove and dispose of them manually.
I have to wonder if this means that all the ancient Romans kind of smelled a little poopy all the time
Well, the sponge itself would be rinsed of fecal matter in running water, and the salt water/vinegar soak would have taken care of the rest. Smell (at least, the smell of the wiped Romans) wouldn’t have been a problem - transmission of parasite eggs from fecal matter, on the other hand? Probably a non-negligible issue.
https://www.livescience.com/53303-ancient-rome-infested-with-parasites.html
It was pretty bad.
Pre-germ-theory food handling and water source management always took a toll, so I’m guessing poo sponges were a relatively small part of the problem. Especially if the vinegar soak actually worked at all.
Now that is surprising. How hard is it to just delouse your shit before you put it back on?
Surprisingly hard. Delousing was a major endeavor all the way up into the 20th century. The little bastards are hard to completely eradicate.
I did some searching, but turned up kind of empty. Do you have something you could link on this?
Sure thing! This is about WW1 in particular, but it gives an idea of how hard the little bastards are to fight.
https://spartacus-educational.com/FWWlice.htm
So how did that machine work? My search turned up a lot of stuff about it being a problem in the great wars, but urban Rome is a very a different beast, with much less science and much more leisure time and stability.
My first instinct is boiling water. The Romans would definitely have tried that, and few things can survive it, but I’d also guess their textiles wouldn’t have survived well. My next thought is smoke, which I guess they could have just missed, but then again maybe the pests are resistant to it. The eggs at least wouldn’t need to actively respire much. Salt maybe? Tiny things don’t generally deal well with the wrong salt concentrations.
In Auschwitz they used the same cyanide gas tablets as were used on the “prisoners”, but in much greater concentrations, which has become a source of supposed gotchas for denialists.
Delousing machines in the Great War were usually steam machines.
https://rnzaoc.com/2017/03/14/mobile-laundry-and-bath-equipment-1941-1990s/
Not so sure about much more leisure time. Working class Romans would have been working sunup to sundown, while soldiers always have to fight long stretches of boredom, even in the chaos of the trenches.
Nit combs and oil rubs were the usual treatments. The oil can asphyxiate the bastards so you can catch them, but most’ll start breathing again after a while, so you still have to remove and dispose of them manually.
It probably cleaned better than thin, dry paper. If it wasn’t for the communal aspect this would actually be a decent solution to the problem.