History has amazing highlights and the civilizations
that helped build the world we know of today have a lot to take credit for. From the monolithic pyramids at Giza to the
brilliant and provocative artworks of the Renaissance, you would think that living in
any of the centuries when mankind was reaching for the stars is something you would want
to witness and participate in, but you may want to think twice about it. While being a badass knight might sound epic
to you or being one of Socrates’ valued students is a high honor, it’s the things
that happen in between the knightly duties or the lessons at school that you should take
heavily into consideration. Daily life in the Medieval Ages or in Ancient
Rome isn’t as glammed up to be, and the things we have read in our school’s history
books have been, pretty much, filtered down to suit the taste of a general, more wholesome
audience. So in today’s video, we are letting you
in on some of the things that may surprise you about daily living in historical times. Here are 5 horrifying realities of daily life
in the early centuries of the world! Number 5: Plumbing Problems
One of the greatest inventions introduced into human civilization is indoor plumbing. It is something we take extremely for granted
on a daily basis. To us, it’s just part of a routine we go
through every morning. We sit, we flush, we wash, and once our business
is down the drain and off to the sewer system, it is not our business anymore. As they say, out of sight, out of mind. Sadly, the same cannot be said for people
living in the days preceding indoor plumbing. Voiding your bowels is an almost non-stop
horror movie that you have to live through every waking day and every waking moment of
your life. Take the Ancient Romans for example. You would think that for a civilization that
has pioneered a revolutionary system for irrigation through the aqueducts, they would have found
a solution to their plumbing problems. At the height of their Empire, the Romans
did have a way of meeting the daily demands of bowel movement through a public toilet
system. However, there really was no sewage management
system in place when it comes to dealing with human excrement. The public toilets were also a horror show
regarding hygiene, and one would already be risking his health by simply sitting on one
of the latrines with pipes that lead directly to a river of poop directly below. Believe it or not, you are even at risk of
catching fire using one of these public facilities because of the large amount of methane build-up
that’s steaming out of each toilet seat. The medieval age was no better. In those days, people tried to be innovative
and creative regarding getting rid of their offal. Some would dig cesspits and bury their waste,
but it would eventually spill over to a neighbor’s yard. One woman named Alice Wade created a sophisticated
wooden pipe system that ran underneath her neighbors’ yards and home and led directly
to the street where her waste would end up. It was a clever contraption up until it clogged
and backed up her neighbors’ sewage and, of course, you can’t fail to notice the
accumulation of poop on the street. If you think this is already horrific, most
people in those days simply went in the streets or wherever it is that they need to do their
business in buildings, public squares, and marketplaces. Number 4: Traveling Can Be Tricky
Another everyday activity that we can freely do these days is traveling. With the convenience of modern transportation,
we can safely move from one place to another no matter the distance. Traveling abroad – or even to a nearby town
– back in the day, is a completely different story. We have all seen the movies where commoners
traveled armed only with a walking stick and a rucksack filled with their personal belongings. They would be lucky if they had a horse to
ride. One of the most challenging parts of traveling
in the ancient world was a safe and clean place to rest. In fact, many travelers had no choice but
to sleep out in the open and be vulnerable to the elements and either freeze to death
or be attacked by wild animals. Travelling in a group may sound like a logical
way to keep safe but you would still run the risk of armed bandits who would not think
twice of slitting your throat before running off with your belongings or, in a sudden,
ironic twist of fate, run the risk of being robbed and murdered by your companions should
conditions become rough. Ignorance of local customs in a foreign land
may also prove to be a problem. Language barriers are the obvious hurdles
but in times where political disputes and territorial skirmishes abound, being misinformed
of the goings on may land you a one-way ticket to prison – if you’re lucky. It also goes without saying that food and
water can be a problem when you did not plan out your supplies correctly. Food poisoning is rampant especially if you
end up foraging and hunting for food that could potentially do more harm to your body
than you think. An inn or a monastery are relatively safe
places to find lodgings and food to eat, granted that is the elements or bandits did not get
to you first. Even the most sophisticated traveling party
can be susceptible to the horrors of traveling abroad. Injury and accidents are as common as the
air they breathe. In one account in 1190, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick I met his untimely death when he drowned crossing the Saleph River during the
Third Crusade. I think it’s safe to say that, back then,
if you really don’t have to go anywhere important, it’s safe to stay at home. Number 3: No Quarter for the Unemployed
In any government in any country and in any kind of economic system, unemployment is a
necessary evil in the cogs of industry and progress. Today, we treat the unemployed humanely and
offer help in the form of welfare, career counseling, and many other programs that can
help anyone get on their feet and start building a life. I wish the same could be said centuries ago
especially in the Medieval Age. For example, being unemployed in 16th Century
England is somewhat considered as a criminal offense. Because the unemployed had to wander and travel
from one town to the next looking for any means of income, they would often be seen
by law enforcement and other locals as vagrants and are swiftly thrown in jail. Well, the lucky ones at least. More often than not, the unemployed are tied
to carts and dragged around town while being flogged and whipped to a bloody pulp. Talk about motivation. However that all changed in 1547 when the
flogging law was changed and, instead, a vagrant could have the option of either being branded
like cattle or be sold into slavery. By the time 1600 rolled in, a new set of laws
were passed that offered rewards to people who would capture and bring in vagrants. It was, as you can assume, a terrible plan
to get the jobless off the streets as most people opted to make this a lucrative form
of living by simply tackling and picking up anyone they find sleeping on the streets or
suspect of vagrancy. The government was not at all evil. In some form, they did provide assistance
to the poor and the jobless. However, as part of the deal, they will be
asked to wear a badge with the letter “P” stitched into it to identify them in a crowd. If an individual refused to wear it, he or
she would be fined an equivalent of two weeks’ wages: wages that they did not have in the
first place and could not have because they don’t have any form of employment to earn
it. Number 2: Being a Woman is Really, Ridiculously
Tough The Ancient World, hands down, is brimming
with misogyny and testosterone that many societies – except for some that also put women in
high regard as their male generals like Sparta – treat the fairer sex as second class citizens
and just a means of producing offspring. A woman’s ordeal in the ancient world begins
at birth. In Athens, it was common practice for a couple
to leave their new born, the female child exposed to the elements to die. Rome is no different. Especially in poor families, parents would
often choose to raise a son than a daughter saying that a female child is far too burdensome
and costs a lot more money to rear. Most families who do have a female infant
would opt to kill the child or leave it exposed to the elements instead. The virtue of also keeping your virginity
if you were a woman back then was a matter of life and death. An Athenian man who finds out that his unmarried
daughter is no longer a virgin will sell her into slavery in the blink of an eye. Another gruesome story happened in Rome when
a priestess of the goddess Vesta lost her virginity before reaching the age of 30. She was promptly buried alive; and in Israel,
a woman who lost her virginity before tying the knot could be dragged into the streets
and be stoned to death. Thinking of a dream wedding? Well, if you were living in the days of the
Ancient Romans and the early centuries of the Chinese and Japanese empires, you better
forget it. Back then, brides were secured by abducting
them through invasion, war, and whatever conquest their empires are enterprising on. In some parts of China, the kidnapping of
brides was not outlawed until the 1940s. Without kidnapped brides, the Roman Empire
would have probably collapsed and crumbled early with accounts of it being told in several
legends such as the kidnapping of the Sabine women. Number 1: Death by Common Cold
It goes without saying that the field of medicine is yet to make a revolutionary step forward
in the days of the ancient Greeks, Romans, and even the Medieval Ages. In fact, most deaths that aren’t attributed
to illnesses are caused by tiny injuries like cuts and scrapes that, left untreated, led
to severe infection that spread to the vital parts of the body. If a person is lucky, he gets to keep his
life but lose an infected limb or two. Among women, childbirth is one of the leading
causes of death because of unsanitary practices and environments. An infant is also at high risk of dying due
to mishandling and various forms of bacteria present in the surroundings. Wealth and status are no guarantee to keep
you in perfect health. However, history has seen more deaths in crowded
urban areas than in far off farmlands. Maybe it is because of the unsanitary conditions
of the cities. For one, no one really knows where to throw
their poop or where to poop. The Black Plague is a result of the lack of
upkeep in the cities that has cost millions of lives across Europe. Suffice to say that, with the combination
of an overcrowded urban landscape and poor medical information, simply catching the common
cold signs you a one-way trip to the grave in a matter of days.
