Money doesn't smell, detergent does smell
Pompeii, c. Year 79. The eruption of the Vesuvius volcano surprised businesses in the Roman city, including fullonica or Stephanus laundry. Like all other elements of the site, the laundry was very well preserved by the ashes. And there are also other fullonics that have survived well, like those of Ostia, Barcino and Herculano. In fact, all Roman cities or colonies had at least one fullonica.
They were engaged in washing clothes and household clothes. In the absence of artificial chemical detergents, urine was used as a universal detergent at the time of urine, as it was also used for tooth cleaning, as explained in this section. In the pools of saltus fullonici or water renewal, the ammonia in the urine was good for removing toge stains, tunics and wool scarves. They mixed urine with lime and ash, natural, bleaching raw materials.
Not all the pools were equal. Some imported from abroad – the washable gifts of Hispanic urine were known – but most of the time they had to use the fluid collected in public bathrooms. There were also more autarkic businesses: on the walls of the store, there were amphora stockings for pedestrians to carry to the bladder. In the pompeii, inscriptions have been found that invite citizens to urinate.
The slaves, mixed with soda and urine, ordered the clothes and fabrics until they were mixed with smelly detergent. Once the stains were removed, they would take the clothes to a larger pond outside and let them drain, drain and dry in the sun, over the rainwater collected in the impluvium. The wealthiest paid some coins and the fullonica slaves perfumed their clothes with essences of flowers and herbs, hoping to erase the traces of the smell of urine.
Emperor Vespasian imposed the urine tax that citizens left in laundries or public latrines due to their eagerness to raise money from any activity. Suetonius had pointed out that Tito, the emperor's son, had demoralized his father's decision. Vespasian then took an aureus out of the bag and asked Tito if the smell of the golden coin disturbed him. After his son refused, the father replied: “And yet, it comes from the urine.” Then Pecunia non olet (Money doesn't smell), the well-known Latin expression, was born.
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