Many historians are enthralled with the Romans and their empire…well I am NOT one of those people…..but I did find some of their actions disgusting and at times humorous…..

For instance they had a pee tax….by pee I mean urine……

The Romans collected pee daily from public and private urinals located throughout the city. The contents would be used as a natural cleaning agent for a variety of applications such as washing clothes, tanning leather, bleaching textiles, and even brushing one’s teeth. 

If you’ve wondered why urine smells, a simple chemical reaction is to blame. When exposed to nitrogen in the atmosphere, pee undergoes a transformation in which proteins metabolize to produce ammonia — a commodity in high demand during the first century AD. 

Naturally, officials sought to capitalize on the flowing resource by levying what came to be known as the vectigal urinae or “urine tax.” When public urinals and private toilets became full, the collector would be charged a tariff s on these pots of liquid gold. As a result, it popularized the phrase, pecunia non olet  (“money does not stink”). 

There is so much more……

https://www.toptenz.net/crazy-facts-you-might-not-know-about-ancient-rome.php

First let me say….Eeeewwwww!

Let’s hope it never comes to that in our era……we pay enough taxes (well some of us do…others get a free ride)….we already pay taxes on tobacco, whiskey, gas, etc next in line will be our urine.

That ends my class for this session….

Class Dismissed!

“lego ergo scribo”