# How Filthy Were The Romans?

An episode of [Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1612090432), 2 Jan 2026, 37 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/acast/s/betwixt-the-sheets/e/69452d96e13e237fde9188ef/media.mp3?tk=eyJ0ayI6ImRlZmF1bHQiLCJhZHMiOnRydWUsInNwb25zIjp0cnVlLCJzdGF0dXMiOiJwdWJsaWMifQ==&sig=5HQgrMvjA8RcoMt5xRwrTw8WA_gt0ZM4qkZ8FtqYlqo

Some of the key remnants of the Roman Empire are their public baths - huge complexes, multiple different rooms, the basis of many of our modern spas. But were the Romans clean? How regularly did they wash? Were they really using urine to wash clothes? And what's this about a communal wiping stick? Kate is joined by the wonderful Alexander Meddings for the first episode in a series where we are trying to find out just how smelly people were in history. Alex is a Rome-based historian and tour guide. Find out more about his work here: https://alexandermeddings.com/ This episode was edited by Nick Thomson. The producer was Sophie Gee. The senior producer was Freddy Chick. Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. All music from Epidemic Sounds. Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast. Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards! UK & Ireland listeners please place your vote on the Spotify mobile app here: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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