Thursday, July 21, 2011

Imagine That: Roman Litter (the garbage kind)

I am starting an occasional series titled Imagine That, in which I imagine how things would have been in the ancient Roman world. I welcome all serious contributors!

Imagine that you are walking down a street in ancient Rome. What kind of natural and man-made litter, garbage, etc. do you see in and along the road?

  • mud and dirt (goes without saying but I said it anyway)
  • puddles of water
  • feces and urine from animals and humans
  • small, dead animals: dogs, cats, rats, birds
  • bones and other parts/entrails from food: fish, pigs, goats, sheep, chicken, duck, goose
  • fruit skins and rinds, olive pits, vegetable skins and seeds, spoiled food
  • broken pottery and sherds
  • old clothes, rags, and shreds
  • scraps of parchment, papyrus, vellum (probably not much of this)
  • sticks (but should have been used as fuel for fire), parts from old brooms
  • bits of block, brick, stone, terra cotta
  • broken toys, dolls, small statues/lares
  • rarely, cool stuff like coins, stylus, glass vial or bottle, knife
  • what am I missing?

1 comment:

Anna Peregrina said...

stili? The occasional small bit of jewelry, ring or earring. Bits of tile fallen off the roof.