Ancient Romans used a shared sponge on a stick instead of toilet paper in public restrooms.

The tool was called a xylospongium or a tersorium. It was made of a natural sea sponge tied to a wooden handle. Public toilets in cities like Rome and Ostia Antica were large rooms where up to 50 people sat side-by-side. A gutter of running water flowed in front of their feet to rinse the sponges.The Romans used buckets of vinegar or salt water to clean the sponges between uses. These liquids can kill some germs but they are not strong enough to stop all diseases. Modern scientists like Dr. Piers Mitchell have studied the dirt found in old Roman toilets. They found many eggs from tiny worms that lived inside people's stomachs.These parasites included whipworms and roundworms. Because everyone shared the same cleaning tools, these parasites spread easily from person to person. Even though Romans built great sewers like the Cloaca Maxima, their shared sponges kept them sick. This practice was common across the empire for hundreds of years. It only stopped after the Roman Empire fell.