Xylospongium
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 with a sea sponge 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. Other recent research suggests it was most likely a toilet brush.
In the Baths of the Seven Sages in Ostia, a fresco from the 2nd century contains the Inscription taris xylosphongio 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.
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 deep into his throat.
General references
Primary sources
- Claudius Terentianus, Michigan Papyri VIII 471 = 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, 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.
- The Sponge-Stick: Scatological Undertones to Christ's Humiliation at the Crucifixion. Benjamin J. Rusch. 2023, Global Journal of Classical Theology.