Multistory Public Toilets in Rome
Step into a Roman bathhouse and look up—a row of marble toilets lines the second floor, right above your head.
Charles Le Brun — "The Jabach Family" (ca. 1660), public domain
Roman Toilets Went Vertical
Step into a Roman bathhouse and look up—a row of marble toilets lines the second floor, right above your head. Running water gurgles below, carrying waste away as fresh air streams through open windows.
Stacked Lavatories, Ancient Style
Roman engineers didn’t just build public toilets at ground level. Some had upper stories, with waste channels running through thick masonry down to the main sewer. In places like Ostia and Rome, you could find two levels of toilets, all cleaned by a single constant flush.
Living Under the Loo
Imagine soaking in a Roman bath while hearing a flush above. For Romans, clever engineering trumped privacy—and public sanitation was a matter of national pride.
Roman engineers built public toilets not just on one floor, but sometimes stacked two or even three stories high. Waste dropped through chutes built into the walls, straight to the main sewer below. You could be washing in the bath below while hearing what’s happening overhead.
