Describing historical arts & technologies

Kimono from the Heian period

In the Heian period (794-1185), a new technique was developed to make kimonos. In this technique, known as the ‘straight-line-cut’ method, pieces of fabric were cut in straight lines and sewn together. With this technique, kimono makers did not have to concern themselves with the shape of the wearer’s body.

Straight cut kimonos were suitable for all weather conditions: they could be worn in layers to provide warmth in winter, and kimonos made from breathable fabric such as linen were comfortable in summer. Thanks to these advantages, the kimono became part of the everyday life of the Japanese.

In time, when wearing kimonos in layers came into vogue, Japanese began to pay attention to how kimonos of different colours looked together and developed a heightened sensitivity to colour. The colour combinations represented seasonal colours or the political class to which one belonged. It was during this time that what we now regard as traditional Japanese colour combinations developed.

Although the Roman sanitation system was sophisticated among the ancient civilisations, behind the innovation was the reality that disease spread quickly. Even with the public foricae, many Romans simply threw their waste out of the window onto the streets.

Although public officials known as aediles were responsible for keeping the streets clean, in the poorer districts of the city, stepping stones were needed to cross over the piles of rubbish. Eventually, the city’s ground level was raised as buildings were just built on top of rubbish and rubble.

The public baths were also breeding grounds for disease. Roman doctors would often recommend that ill people should go for a cleansing bath. As part of the baths’ etiquette, the sick usually bathed in the afternoons to avoid healthy bathers. However, like public toilets and the streets, there was no daily cleaning routine for keeping the baths themselves clean, so illness was often passed to healthy bathers who visited the next morning.

Romans used a sea sponge on a stick, called a tersorium, to wipe after using the latrine. The sponges were often washed in water containing salt and vinegar, kept in a shallow gutter below the toilets. Yet not everyone carried around their own sponge and public latrines at baths or even the Colosseum would have seen shared sponges, inevitably passing on diseases such as dysentery.

Despite the constant risk of disease, the Romans’ ancient sewer system nonetheless demonstrated innovation and a commitment to public welfare. In fact, it worked so well at transporting waste out of towns and cities that Roman sanitation was replicated across the empire, the echoes of which can still be found today.

From Rome’s Cloaca Maximus that continues to drain the Forum Romanum and surrounding hills, to a well-preserved latrine at Housesteads Fort along Hadrian’s Wall, these remains testify to the innovation behind how the Romans went to the toilet.