6 ms·

The ruins of Leptis Magna, Roman ruins dating from 1100 BCE–650 CE, features sit-down toilets. http://www.flickr.com/photos/libyan_soup/650693182/ http://www.f

by bombs 16y ago

The ruins of Leptis Magna, Roman ruins dating from 1100 BCE–650 CE, features sit-down toilets. http://www.flickr.com/photos/libyan_soup/650693182/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/libyan_soup/650693182/

eru 16y ago
I have heard people argue, that the Roman toilets were for squatting on top.
- pbhjpbhj 16y ago
  Like wikipedia. >the Roman toilets were probably elevated to raise them above open sewers, rather than for sitting. However in the image http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ostia-Toilets.JPG http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ostia-Toilets.JPG accompanying one can see that this would mean that the Romans were wasting a lot of well prepared stone building the toilets twice as high as needed (note the extra stone below the opening). One thought was that this could be an economy of parts, the "seat" and front pieces appear same-dimensioned - but then I noticed that the bottom part has a corner that the top part didn't and so in this instance that theory appears unsound. Given the Romans amazing engineering prowess I can't see them wasting materials like this in order to make the toilets harder to use. http://books.google.com/books?id=RIRlPwAACAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:OCLC317259036 http://books.google.com/books?id=RIRlPwAACAAJ&printsec=f... appears to be the major ref on Wikipedia and is widely cited in scientific papers but unfortunately I can't find a place to read it online (and don't have a copy!). Edit: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0715638505?ie=UTF8&tag=flapjacktasti-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0715638505 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0715638505?ie=UTF8&tag=... "Latrinae Et Foricae: Toilets in the Roman World" clearly, to me, shows a Roman toilet as a seat on the front (my posterior would fit but my feet wouldn't fit either side of the hole to squat). Review - http://bloggingpompeii.blogspot.com/2009/12/latrinae-et-foricae-toilets-in-roman.html http://bloggingpompeii.blogspot.com/2009/12/latrinae-et-fori...
  - eru 16y ago
    Thanks for the investigation. Perhaps the Romans started out squatting, and later changed to sitting. I predict this is the point in time when the rise of the Romans stopped and their fall began. (Tongue-in-cheek.)
    - pbhjpbhj 16y ago
      There's a joke there about tongues in cheeks but I'm too refined to make it.

by bombs 16y ago

eru 16y ago

I have heard people argue, that the Roman toilets were for squatting on top.

pbhjpbhj 16y ago
Like wikipedia. >the Roman toilets were probably elevated to raise them above open sewers, rather than for sitting. However in the image http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ostia-Toilets.JPG http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ostia-Toilets.JPG accompanying one can see that this would mean that the Romans were wasting a lot of well prepared stone building the toilets twice as high as needed (note the extra stone below the opening). One thought was that this could be an economy of parts, the "seat" and front pieces appear same-dimensioned - but then I noticed that the bottom part has a corner that the top part didn't and so in this instance that theory appears unsound. Given the Romans amazing engineering prowess I can't see them wasting materials like this in order to make the toilets harder to use. http://books.google.com/books?id=RIRlPwAACAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:OCLC317259036 http://books.google.com/books?id=RIRlPwAACAAJ&printsec=f... appears to be the major ref on Wikipedia and is widely cited in scientific papers but unfortunately I can't find a place to read it online (and don't have a copy!). Edit: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0715638505?ie=UTF8&tag=flapjacktasti-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0715638505 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0715638505?ie=UTF8&tag=... "Latrinae Et Foricae: Toilets in the Roman World" clearly, to me, shows a Roman toilet as a seat on the front (my posterior would fit but my feet wouldn't fit either side of the hole to squat). Review - http://bloggingpompeii.blogspot.com/2009/12/latrinae-et-foricae-toilets-in-roman.html http://bloggingpompeii.blogspot.com/2009/12/latrinae-et-fori...
- eru 16y ago
  Thanks for the investigation. Perhaps the Romans started out squatting, and later changed to sitting. I predict this is the point in time when the rise of the Romans stopped and their fall began. (Tongue-in-cheek.)
  - pbhjpbhj 16y ago
    There's a joke there about tongues in cheeks but I'm too refined to make it.