Image Gallery: Pompeii's Toilets

News
By published

Pompeii Toilet

Pompeii toilet

(Image credit: A. Kate Trusler)

Sloped Toilet

A toilet in Pompeii

(Image credit: A. Kate Trusler)

Downsloping walls in this latrine directed waste toward the drain.

Crumbled Latrine

Pompeii toilet

(Image credit: A. Kate Trusler)

Little is left of this latrine in the city of Pompeii.

Terracotta Downpipe

Vertical downpipe in Pompeii

(Image credit: A. Kate Trusler)

Vertical pipes in Pompeii's walls may once have lead to upstairs toilets.

Pompeii Downpipe

Downpipe in pompeii

(Image credit: A. Kate Trusler)

A pipe embedded in the lower story of a Pompeii building. Most of the second stories in the town were destroyed in the volcanic eruption that wiped the city off the map.

Second-Story Toilet

Second story toilet in Pompeii

(Image credit: Pompeii second story toilet)

A few second-story toilets survive, such as this one.

Upstairs Latrine

Upstairs latrine in Pompeii

(Image credit: A. Kate Trusler)

The remains of this upstairs latrine include the barest hint of a curved ceiling or archway.

Pompeii Flush Toilet

Pompeii toilet

(Image credit: A. Kate Trusler)

A pipe leading in from the side likely provided flush water for this upstairs toilet in Pompeii.

Stephanie Pappas
Stephanie Pappas
Live Science Contributor

Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was previously a senior writer for Live Science but is now a freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.