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 (Greek: ξύλον, xylon) with a sea sponge (Greek: σπόγγος, spongos) 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 (sometimes salt water).[1][2][3][4] Other recent research suggests it was most likely a toilet brush.[5]
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.[8]
^Non magis quravit me pro xylesphongium ..., "He paid no more attention to me than to a sponge stick" (Michigan Papyri VIII 471 = CEL 146 = ChLA XLII 1220 29), "HGV". aquila.zaw.uni-heidelberg.de. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
^Seneca, Epistulae morales N. 70, vs. 20-21.... lignum id, quod ad emundanda obscena adhaerente spongia positum est, totum in gulam farsit ..., "the stick, on which a sponge is placed for the cleaning of stuck filth, he stuffed all the way into his throat".
General references
Primary sources
Claudius Terentianus, Michigan Papyri VIII 471 (inv. 5393) = CEL 146 = ChLA XLII 1220 29.
Richard Neudecker: Die Pracht der Latrine. Zum Wandel öffentlicher Bedürfnisanstalten in der kaiserzeitlichen Stadt. Pfeil-Verlag, München 1994 (Studien zur antiken Stadt, Bd. 1) ISBN3-923871-86-4, 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. ISBN978-90-429-2661-5. pp. 295–304.