Gladiator Blood As Medicine
When it comes to health and hygiene, let’s just say that these things weren’t the strong point of Ancient Rome. Considering the fact that people brushed their teeth using urine and shared wiping sponges in the public baths, nothing appeared to be out of the question. Back in the first and sixth centuries, Romans believed that consuming the blood or liver of a gladiator could cure epilepsy. The blood of a fallen gladiator could allegedly clean their souls and this was the key to curing the condition. In those days, it was pretty common to find warm gladiator blood for sale, fresh from the fight in the arena. We’ll have to say no thanks to that!
Gladiator Blood As Medicine
Goddess Of The Drains and Sewers
Can you believe that the Ancient Romans even had a goddess of the drains and sewers of Rome? Cloacina, “The Cleanser”, allegedly presided over the main sewer system of Ancient Rome called “The Great Drain” or the Cloaca Maxima. She was originally a part of the Etruscan pantheon but later adopted by the Romans and associated with the Goddess of Love, Venus. As time passed by, Cloaca also ended up becoming the protector of marital sexual intercourse and the goddess of purity at the same time. There exists a shrine dedicated to her right above the entryway to the Cloaca Maxima Sewer in the same spot where historians speculate an older one used to stand.
Goddess Of The Drains and Sewers