https://ancientrome.org/tags/public-health/ Recent content in Public Health on Ancient Rome Hugo en-us Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://ancientrome.org/roman-public-latrines-reveal-an-empire-that-built-sanitation-without-achieving-hygiene/ Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://ancientrome.org/roman-public-latrines-reveal-an-empire-that-built-sanitation-without-achieving-hygiene/ <p>The Roman public latrine is one of the few structures from antiquity that still makes modern visitors physically uncomfortable. A long stone bench, twenty or more keyhole-shaped openings cut into it at close intervals, no partitions, no doors, and a shallow water channel running along the floor at the feet of everyone seated. It looks less like a bathroom than like a piece of civic furniture — which is precisely what it was.</p>