THE SECRET HISTORY OF ANCIENT TOILETS

Abstract

Some 2,000 years ago, a high-ceilinged room under of one of Rome's most opulent palaces was a busy, smelly space. Inside the damp chamber, a bench, perforated by about 50 holes the size of dinner plates, ran along the walls. It may have supported the bottoms of some of the lowest members of Roman society.

Today, the room is shut offto the public, but archaeologists Ann Koloski-Ostrow and Gemma Jansen had a rare chance to study the ancient communal toilet on the Palatine Hill in 2014.