Some behaviors by the Ancient Rome that seem unthinkable or ridiculous in today's society.
First, they did not wash with soap but only with water.
At most they used beech ash, lye or pumice. In the baths, they used perfumed oils that were spread on the body and then removed with a scraper that also removed dirt. Soap was known but only used by Germanic people.
Blue was considered the color of barbarians due to the dyes these people used, especially the Picts.
For this reason, the Romans did not have clothes and did not paint their houses in this color.
At lunch and dinner, it was allowed to burp and fart.
It was considered a gesture of civilization (go figure). The only ones not to do it were the plebeians who considered it a fad of nobility.
The holidays were many and some of dubious taste.
One above all, the Lupercalia in honor of the god Luperco, in which the priests dressed in dog skins and went around whipping women, especially if they were pregnant.
Husband and wife, if rich, slept in separate rooms, each with their personal slave who slept in a bed next to the master's; if poor, they slept in the classic double bed.
Of course, the husband could have sex with all his slaves while the wife only with the husband.
Homosexuality was tolerated but only in certain cases.
A Roman citizen who had sex with a man (usually a slave) in an active position did not cause a stir, but the passive position was considered a crime and he was arrested. Likewise, fellatio, cunnilingus and all positions where the woman was dominant were also considered a crime. This is because virility for a Roman was sacred and he could never show himself to be submissive, not even with his wife.
The Romans used a lot of makeup.
Both men and women whitened their arms and face with chalk or white lead, used ochre or wine dregs for lips and cheeks, soot for eye contour, and horn powder or urine to whiten teeth. Men went to the barber (tonsor) while women had suitable slaves for the purpose who also took care of adjusting their hair, the hairdressers (amatrices).
The purple obtained from murex was highly appreciated and was worth its weight in gold.
Furthermore, plebeians were forbidden to dress in purple because it was considered the color of nobility. There was also purple obtained from some flowers and at a low price but was despised by rich patricians. Clothes dyed with murex purple smelled like fish that had gone bad for months but the Romans did not care, for them it was a symbol of authenticity.
Fabrics were immersed in fermented urine to whiten them.
The most sought after was camel urine, considered the best of all. It got to the point where it was collected from public urinals and taxed.
Toilets were common places, not private.
People sat on special benches and did their business without worrying about others. In the end, they used a sponge to clean themselves (it is unknown if it was communal or if everyone had their own).
The blood and sweat of gladiators were considered a remedy for every ailment and sold at a high price. Often they were included in the composition of many medicines.
Women were not allowed to cry at funerals.
This type of display was banned due to the passions it could incite in a crowd in early societies. These laws (the Solonic law in Athens and the Twelve Tables of Rome) were enacted during their early phases when conflicts among the ruling elites for power in the city were common. The wealthy could afford to hire mourners whose cries could whip up the crowd or audience into extreme fervor, and the resulting violence could be directed towards the enemies of that particular family, leading to more funerals, more outrage, and more violence, further destabilizing society.
Anyone struck by lightning was not buried.
Lightning was considered the attribute of Jupiter, so being struck by it meant that one was hated by Jupiter and therefore was not buried so as not to incur the wrath of the god.
A father could enslave his children and sell them temporarily.
He could also kill the whole family if he believed the children were not his, or if his wife had cheated on him.
Women were not allowed to dye their hair blonde.
This color was that of the barbarians and no Roman woman would have dreamed of being blonde. Prostitutes, on the other hand, were required to dye their hair in this way to identify them. Blonde men were viewed with barely concealed contempt because they were considered descendants of barbarian peoples.
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