Parasites Increased During Roman Times
The Ancient Romans are well known for introducing sanitation technology to Europe around 2,000 years ago, including public multi-seat latrines with washing facilities, sewerage systems, piped drinking water from aqueducts, and heated public baths for washing. Romans also developed laws designed to keep their towns free of excrement and trash. With all this hygienic consciousness one would expect that certain diseases such as dysentery and Parasitic afflictions would decrease. However, archaeological evidence compiled by Dr. Piers Mitchell of Cambridge University has revealed that - for all their apparently hygienic innovations - parasitic infections actually increased and spread faster in the Ancient Roman era than any previous period.ย
A number of explanations for this spike has been proposed by Dr. Mitchell. One proposal is that the water in Roman public baths were changed less frequently than previously thought, leading to the buildup of human dirt. Another proposal is that the making of Garum, a popular Ancient Roman condiment made from the fermented remains of fish, helped to transfer fish tapeworm to human hosts.
According to Dr. Mitchell:ย โThis latest research on the prevalence of ancient parasites suggests that Roman toilets, sewers and sanitation laws had no clear benefit to public health. The widespread nature of both intestinal parasites and ectoparasites such as lice also suggests that Roman public baths surprisingly gave no clear health benefit either. It seems likely that while Roman sanitation may not have made people any healthier, they would probably have smelt better.โ
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