Even though early Europeans knew about soap, many launderers preferred to use urine for its ammonia to get tough stains out of cloth.”īut that wasn’t the only use for urine. “As a base, ammonia is a useful cleanser because dirt and grease - which are slightly acidic - get neutralized by the ammonia. Ammonia, in turn, is excellent at removing dirt and grease from dirt Roman togas, and making white colors whiter and bright ones brighter.Īs explained by science writer Mohi Kumar: This is because urine contained urea, which, after 24 hours or so, transforms into ammonia. Instead, they resorted to a common commodity - urine - to clean dirty clothes. For starters, it was widely used to wash dirty clothes.īirmingham Museums Trust, Duncan, 23:58:12/Wikimedia Commons Both sides of a denarius featuring Vespasian.Īncient Roman “fullers” washed laundry for a living. It would be a major aspect of his money-collecting efforts.īut why would he want to tax urine? After all, what practical use could it have, that someone would want to buy it? And how did it lead to the phrase Pecunia non olet? Urine: A Most Useful Substance In Ancient RomeĪs it turns out, human piss had plenty of uses in Ancient Rome. One peculiar item Vespasian decided to tax was human urine collected from public toilets.Īlthough the previous emperor, Nero, was the first to implement this levy, he had rescinded it after a short period.

So Vespasian started to introduce new - and novel, and perhaps unexpected - taxes.

“In the first place, he collected large sums from them in various ways, overlooking no source, however trivial or however reprehensible it might be, but drawing upon every source, sacred and profane alike, from which money could be secured.”īut it was still not enough. Historian Cassius Dio noted that Vespasian even levied heavy duties on Alexandria, Egypt, despite its citizens’ support for his imperial bid.ĭaniel Mayer/Wikimedia Commons The remains of a Roman amphitheater in Alexandria, Egypt. So he increased taxes all over the empire. In a way, the solution for Vespasian’s money woes came naturally, since his own father was a tax collector. Instead, he entered military service and rose through the ranks largely on his own merit.Īccording to the ancient Roman historian Suetonius, Vespasian never forgot where he came from: at religious festivals, he would always drink from a little silver cup that belonged to his grandmother, and he refused to let anyone modify the small country home where he grew up.īut regardless of his humble beginnings, Vespasian had a big problem: the imperial treasury was all but depleted from war and Nero’s excessive expenditures. Unlike the emperors before him, Titus Flavius Vespasianus, better known as Vespasian, did not hail from a noble family. Emperor Vespasian Before Pecunia Non Olet Having defeated the forces of the last claimant, Vespasian took power and proclaimed a new Flavian dynasty, which would later include his sons Titus and Domitian. This resulted in a civil war with four men ruling in short succession: Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and finally Vespasian. saw four powerful Romans lay claim to the title of emperor. In what historians have come to call the Year of the Four Emperors, 68-69 A.D. Unsurprisingly, prominent Roman politicians and generals took advantage of the situation, fighting for the imperial throne. With no surviving children or designated heirs, Nero’s passing caused a power vacuum. brought an abrupt end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty that had reigned since Augustus, the man who transformed Rome from a republic into an empire. Paris/Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Massimo/Egisto Sani/Flickr Emperor Vespasian wearing the corona civica, or civic crown.

Pecunia animal