A perfect compliment to the tongs......
"xylospongium (in Latin sponge on a stick ) or tersorium (In Latin a wiping thing)."
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Basically,
xylospongium was a toilet brush for a butt.
It was a soft and gentle device that didn’t require washing your hands after defecation.
Once used, the
xylospongium was returned to a bucket filled with salt water or vinegar, for the next person to use it.
In some cases, public toilets had a channel of running water in the middle which was then used to clean the
xylospongium.
Imagine how happy bacteria and intestinal worms were once they found their way into the Roman public toilets. They could spread with ease.
Joke aside, the Roman public toilets posed a great risk. The rich Romans never used them. Only the lower classes went to public toilets.