While today we flush our urine away without giving it a second thought, in ancient times it was considered a valuable commodity. Urine contains a wide array of important minerals and chemicals such as phosphorus and potassium. The Romans believed that urine – both human and animal - would make their teeth whiter and keep them from decaying, so they used it as a mouthwash and mixed it with pummis to make toothpaste. In fact, urine was so effective that it was used in toothpastes and mouthwashes up until the 1700s.
I don't know about the urine thing, but communal toilets like that photo, if true, would be for slaves or poor military conscripts only. A free man would seek a solo unit, or head for the woods.
Not so sure that they did! Would like to know your source. The Urine tax was on urine collected for laundry use and Catullus (39) insults one Egnatius by attributing his big toothy grin to the amount of urine he has swallowed, because, he suggests, the Spanish (Celteberi) brush their teeth with urine. So it's not what a Roman would do.
Urine(human) has many applications. I It is very rich in nitrogen and makes a good fertilizer. It is used to cure depression(drinking own urine). Rogen a drug developed for hair growth was first discovered in rat urine. It also is used to cure skin infections. Cow urine in India is considered pious and medicinal. Parsis in their native land Persia used cow urine for purification. Just because it is a by product of our metabolism and is discarded, it does not mean it is not useful.
It’s a mystery to me why urine isn’t used today for fertilizer. Set for 10 days, dilute by 10, it’s a wonderful fertilizer. Instead of depending on other countries for fertilizer we should use our own urine!
Excellent and interesting article, with just one correction: It's "pumice," not "pummis."
I don't know about the urine thing, but communal toilets like that photo, if true, would be for slaves or poor military conscripts only. A free man would seek a solo unit, or head for the woods.
Urine eats away metal. Imagine what it does to tooth enamel.
😲 WOW 😲
K ascooo🤢🤮
While it's disgusting, it is very interesting.
Not so sure that they did! Would like to know your source. The Urine tax was on urine collected for laundry use and Catullus (39) insults one Egnatius by attributing his big toothy grin to the amount of urine he has swallowed, because, he suggests, the Spanish (Celteberi) brush their teeth with urine. So it's not what a Roman would do.
Urine(human) has many applications. I It is very rich in nitrogen and makes a good fertilizer. It is used to cure depression(drinking own urine). Rogen a drug developed for hair growth was first discovered in rat urine. It also is used to cure skin infections. Cow urine in India is considered pious and medicinal. Parsis in their native land Persia used cow urine for purification. Just because it is a by product of our metabolism and is discarded, it does not mean it is not useful.
It’s a mystery to me why urine isn’t used today for fertilizer. Set for 10 days, dilute by 10, it’s a wonderful fertilizer. Instead of depending on other countries for fertilizer we should use our own urine!