Xylospongium Explained

The xylospongium or tersorium, also known as a "sponge on a stick", was a utensil found in ancient Roman latrines, consisting of a wooden stick (Greek: Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ξύλον, xylon) with a sea sponge (Greek: Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: σπόγγος, spongos) fixed at one end.

Academics disagree as to its exact use, about which the primary sources are vague. It has traditionally been assumed to be a type of shared anal hygiene utensil used to wipe after defecating, and the sponge cleaned in vinegar or water (sometimes salt water).^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} Other recent research suggests it was most likely a toilet brush.^[5]

In the Baths of the Seven Sages in Ostia, a fresco from the 2nd century contains the Inscription (u)taris xylosphongio^[6] which is the first known mention of the term. Also in the early second century a papyrus letter of Claudius Terentianus to his father Claudius Tiberianus uses the term xylespongium in a phrase.^[7]

In the middle of the first century, the Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger reported that a Germanic gladiator died by suicide with a sponge on a stick. According to Seneca, the gladiator hid himself in the latrine of an amphitheatre and pushed the wooden stick into his oesophagus and choked to death.^[8]

See also

• Bidet shower
• Shit stick

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, 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. . pp. 295–304.

Notes and References

1. Mirsky. Steve. Getting to the Bottom. Scientific American. 308. 3. 85–85. 10.1038/scientificamerican0313-85.
2. Web site: Nash . Stephen E. . What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper? . 4 June 2019 . Sapiens.
3. Charlier . Philippe . Brun . Luc . Prêtre . Clarisse . Huynh-Charlier . Isabelle . 2012-12-17 . Toilet hygiene in the classical era . BMJ . en . 345 . e8287 . 10.1136/bmj.e8287 . 1756-1833 . 23247990. free .
4. Garg . Pankaj . Singh . Pratiksha . July 2016 . Postdefecation Cleansing Methods: Tissue Paper or Water? An Analytical Review . Diseases of the Colon & Rectum . en-US . 59 . 7 . 696 . 10.1097/DCR.0000000000000583 . 0012-3706 . Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
5. Wiplinger 2012, S. 300-301.
6. L'Année épigraphique 1941, 5.
7. Non magis quravit me pro xylesphongium ..., "He paid no more attention to me than to a sponge stick" (Michigan Papyri VIII 471 = CEL 146 = ChLA XLII 1220 29), Web site: HGV. aquila.zaw.uni-heidelberg.de. 2020-04-05.
8. [s:Moral letters to Lucilius/Letter 70|Seneca, ''Epistulae morales'' N. 70, vs. 20-21.]