The xylospongium or tersorium, also known as ''sponge on a stick'', was a hygienic utensil used by

ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–50 ...

s to wipe their anus after

defecating Defecation (or defaecation) follows digestion, and is a necessary process by which organisms eliminate a solid, semisolid, or liquid waste material known as feces from the digestive tract via the anus. The act has a variety of names ranging f ...

, consisting of a wooden stick (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: , ''xylon'') with a

sea sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through th ...

(Greek: , ''spongos'') fixed at one end. The tersorium was shared by people using public latrines. To clean the

sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate throu ...

, they simply washed it in a bucket with water and salt or vinegar. This became a breeding ground for bacteria, causing the spread of disease in the latrine. In

classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

a ''xylospongium'' might be used as a

toilet brush A toilet brush is a tool for cleaning a toilet bowl. Generally the toilet brush is used with toilet cleaner or bleach. The toilet brush can be used to clean the upper area of the toilet, around the bowl. However, it cannot be used to clean very ...

. In the baths of the seven sages in Ostia, a

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plast ...

from the 2nd century contains the Inscription ''(u)taris xylosphongio'' which is the first known mention of the term. Also in the early second century a papyrus letter of

Claudius Terentianus Claudius Terentianus was an Egyptian enrolled in the Roman army. He was the author of a number of papyrus-letters, mostly addressed to his father Claudius Tiberianus, a veteran settled in Karanis. Military service Claudius Terentianus enliste ...

to his father

Claudius Tiberianus Claudius Tiberianus was a second-century Roman legionary soldier in Egypt, the recipient of a number of papyrus letters which were rediscovered in the twentieth century. The archive of Claudius Tiberianus was partially published in the eighth volum ...

uses the term ''xylespongium'' in a phrase. In the middle of the first century

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

reported that a Germanic gladiator had committed suicide with a sponge on a stick. The gladiator hid himself in the latrine of an amphitheater and pushed the wooden stick into his gullet and choked to death.Seneca, ''Epistulae morales'' 8, 70, 20. ''... lignum id, quod ad emundanda obscena adhaerente spongia positum est, totum in gulam farsit ...'', "the stick with a sponge attached, that is there for wiping the unmentionables, he stuffed it as it was down his throat".

Citations

General references

Primary sources

* Claudius Terentianus, Michigan Papyri VIII 471 (inv. 5393) = CEL 146 = ChLA XLII 1220 29. * Seneca, ''Epistulae morales'' Liber 8, 70, 20. *

Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 and ...

, ''Epigrammata'', Liber 12,48,7.

Secondary sources

* Richard Neudecker: ''Die Pracht der Latrine. Zum Wandel öffentlicher Bedürfnisanstalten in der kaiserzeitlichen Stadt''. Pfeil-Verlag, München 1994 (Studien zur antiken Stadt, Bd. 1) , pp. 36f. * Gilbert Wiplinger: "Der Gebrauch des Xylospongiums – eine neue Theorie zu den hygienischen Verhältnissen in römischen Latrinen". In: ''SPA . SANITAS PER AQUAM. Tagungsband des Internationalen Frontinus-Symposiums zur Technik – und Kulturgeschichte der antiken Thermen Aachen'', 18. – 22. März 2009. Frontinus-Gesellschaft e.V. & Peeters, Leiden 2012. {{ISBN, 978-90-429-2661-5. pp. 295–304. Ancient Greek culture Ancient Roman culture History of water supply and sanitation Sanitation Waste management in Italy

See also

Citations

General references

Primary sources

Secondary sources