You're probaby not entirely wrong, but this is ancient Rome we're talking about here. They were a lot better with sanitation and hygiene than that. It could just be for the rain water.
I remember reading a historical fiction novel once where people put stepping stones in the street of Rome to avoid walking through all the gross stuff, but if the author didn't do their research then I could be wrong.
Sounds reasonable, but it honestly sounds like the author may have been making the assumption that they were similar to medieval times where they would literally empty chamber pots by flinging the contents out of the window.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I was taught that the Ancient Romans understood hygene and sanitation well, that it was their downfall and the association of hygene with pagans and witchcraft thay caused the loss of that information and eventually the Black Plague.
Was the stepping stones and dirty streets a plot point in the story?
No, it was a little detail to add depth to the world. The story was about Cleopatra visiting Rome, and in this one little scene she's disgusted by how filthy the streets are, and how someone empties a chamber pot out of the window.
The timeline for her reign and the introduction and construction of the bathhouses and latrines doesn't match up... in that they would have been in use during her visit.
But I'm also seeing conflicting and contradictory information. I'm going to have to look into this deeper. I found reference to fines for hitting somoene with waste thrown ito the street, but no indication as to when that was.
Having been to pompei just this past summer, my brother and i were told by the tour guide that the reason the pathway is elevated was because of the gross stuff like urine, feces, and other waste that was thrown out.
That's where the name plumber came from in fact. The Latin word for lead it plumbum, so the name for the trade came from a material they worked with; plumber.
It's also where the name for the weight at the end of a line used for vertical alignment in construction came from; plumb bob.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I was taught that the Ancient Romans understood hygene and sanitation well, that it was their downfall and the association of hygene with pagans and witchcraft thay caused the loss of that information and eventually the Black Plague.
Was the stepping stones and dirty streets a plot point in the story?
But I'm also seeing conflicting and contradictory information. I'm going to have to look into this deeper. I found reference to fines for hitting somoene with waste thrown ito the street, but no indication as to when that was.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanitation_in_ancient_Rome
It's also where the name for the weight at the end of a line used for vertical alignment in construction came from; plumb bob.