Similar installations existed during the Minoan and the Mycenaean period (Angelakis et al., 2005, p. 212), but are not presented in this chapter. Even though latrines are mentioned in the scripts by the ancient writers, no public or private lavatories have been found that were dated during the Classical period. Researchers that dealt systematically with this subject, agree on this point (Neudecker, 1994). Cesspits in houses (konpmv - kopron) constructed during the Classical period have been discovered north of Areios Pagos, by the American School of Classical Studies of Athens. However in Rhodes, small rectangular constructions under the roads just outside the houses definitely have been considered as koprons (Filimonos, 2000).
Moreover, clay containers for defecation (konpoSoxoi - koprodochoi) are known (amides or skoramides from Athens), as well as earthen seats such as those at Olynthos, as illustrated in Fig. 4.1. These seats have a similar appearance as modern day ones. Because the seats did not have a bottom combined with the form of the lower edge, they were used either over cesspits or had some other mechanism for collection and drainage of excrements. Probably they were a pre-existing type of lavatory especially if we compare the shape of the apertures of the two types. The existence of such utensils in Olynthus (destroyed by Philipp II in 348 B. C.) could easily date them to the 5thcentury B. C. In addition to that, in Olynthus was found an earthen utensil with a clay sewerage pipe. Its shape, according to the excavator, concludes that it was used along with something else that was not preserved, such as a wooden seat.
Finally recent discoveries in Epidaurus, specifically at the foundations of Avaton, is located probably one of the first stone toilet seats. After basic research into the time of appearance of lavatories with this mature layout, it probably appeared in the early 4th century B. C. Basic issues for this hypothesis are, first the absence of lavatories in the 5th century B. C. finds - however they are reported in the ancient scripts - and second the appearance of them approximately at the end of that century, according to the existing documentation, in Thera, Amorgos and Delos. A similar installation at Knossos’ Palace (Angelakis et al., 2005, p. 212) is a very early example.
Fig. 4.1 Earthen toilet seat and defecation vessel at Olynthos (copyright permission with G. Antoniou)
Because of the number of lavatories that have been found in residences and public buildings in Delos indicates the importance of the island regarding the formation and study of ancient lavatories. Moreover the economic and social evolution of Delos during the post Peloponnesian war period as a commercial and naval center of the Helladic space justifies that importance. That society of the prosperous tradesmen and seamen was logical to confront substantially a problem that deplored all the ancient cities.
The typical layout of the lavatory was formed during the next centuries in the greater Hellenic region with numerous examples not only on the islands but also in the continental territories. Many latrines dated in the 2nd century B. C. have been preserved in residences at Amorgos (see Fig. 4.2), Delos (see Fig. 4.3), Dystos (see Fig. 4.4), Kassopi, Erythrai, Thera (Thira), and in public buildings such as gymnasiums and palestrae, such as at Asclepieion of Kos (Fig. 4.5), Miletos (Fig. 4.6), Amorgos (Fig. 4.7), Pergamon (Fig. 4.8), Phillippoi (Fig. 4.9), Epidaurus (Fig. 4.10), and Ostia (Fig. 4.11). The significance of Delos for the evolution of the typical layout of the ancient Greek lavatory is important and could be the subject of relevant detailed historical research.
The mature formation of the lavatory features in the late Hellenistic era was followed by its spread throughout the entire Roman Empire. During the 1st and 2nd centuries B. C., lavatories were built in monumental forms and sizes, equivalent to other constructions by the Romans. Figure 4.12 Illustrates the lavatory outside the Roman Agora in Athens.
World History
