Babesch volumes - Volume 48

Author: Jansen, G.C.M., Koloski-Ostrow, A.O., Neudecker R.

This book offers, for the first time, a complete overview of all known Roman toilets in the capital of the Roman Empire. Roman toilet specialists Gemma Jansen, Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow, and Richard Neudecker, together with 31 archaeologists working in Rome, provide a comprehensive description of these excavated toilets, complete with numerous illustrations. Some of these toilets have been known for years, while others have only recently been excavated and are presented in this work for the first time.

Another novelty is that this group of toilets is analyzed as a group and in a broader context. The study addresses not only their cultural context, but also their hygiene, water supply and drainage, architecture, seating design, and their place in the urban and mental environment of the ancient city of Rome. The presented research is based on both archaeological finds and Roman textual sources.

This unprecedented compendium is not only aimed at specialists in the field; the interested reader will find that they can leave the immediate context of the toilets and enter directly into the heart of Roman culture and society.