The Ancient Romans used a sponge on a stick for washing themselves after defecating. I always wondered who was responsible for cleaning and replacing those sponges in public latrines.
People always act as if ancient people were somehow different. Obviously you'd have the cleaner who cleans the toilets and swaps the sponges. They'd get more from the storecupboard and someone would be in charge of ordering the sponges from the spongemaker.
Just imagine life today but without the electronics
In Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) the name of the profession with the responsibility of applying the sponge was σφουγκοκωλάριος, sfougokolariis where sfougo is the sponge, kolos is what you imagine it to be in context. The term is still used metaphorically in modern Greek.
