The process of cleaning clothes in ancient Rome could also include the use ofurine: the properties detergents And whitening ofammonia contained in the liquid they had not escaped the ancients who, mixing it with other substances, used it to wash clothes, clothes and togas. That of “lavender“At the time of the Romans, i Fulllones (full in the singular), it was a very widespread and precisely profession regulatory in the Roman world. In a world where therunning water At home only the rich prerogative, the laundry service offered by Fulllones era essential.
The cleaning work of the clothes took place inside the fullonicaesystems deliberately built for this purpose, and which for this reason needed large quantities of water to be able to work. The garments were washed inside vathewed vat o terracotta containers – i dolii – inside which they were added substances like theurineThe sodium carbonate and the ash. THE Fulllones they rubbed vigorously the role to remove dirt, and these subsequently came Rinse with clean water. After these cleaning actions, the clothes came squeezed (also with mechanical presses) e Facts dryto then be returned to customers.
The owners of the fullonicae They used to get the necessary urine for their work directly from public bathrooms. Since with the urban growth of the empire during the first century. DC the work of Fulllones It had become even more essential, the laundry activity had become very profitable. For this reason the emperor Nerve (54-68 d. C.) approved the first “Tax on urine“, in Latin vectigal urineewho had to be paid by those who picked up the liquid for the fullonicae.
After being in use for some time, the tax was abolished and reintroduced under the emperor Vespasian (69-79 d. C.), to which it is attributed by the Latin historian Suetoniusparaphrasing it, the famous saying “pecunia non olet“, that is to say “money does not smell“. Public urinals are still called too”Vespasiani“.
