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Writer's pictureTastes Of History

Dispelling Some Myths: Vomitorium

Updated: Jan 6


It is over thirty years since the immensely popular “Horrible History” book series was launched, which was followed soon after by a television series of the same name. Author Terry Deary claims (tongue firmly in cheek) that the books were his revenge on the boring and badly taught history lessons he had to endure at school. If you are familiar with them, the books are not to be taken too literally (or seriously) but there are a superb introduction for children to the many and varied historical periods. Just occasionally, however, little mistakes are regurgitated. Yet these are not to the author’s discredit, rather they represent the inclusion of common errors that still populate mainstream notions about history. One such is the ancient Romans’ use of vomitoria (sing. vomitorium).


Surely the purpose is obvious - the clue is in the name - the vomitorium must have been the place where Romans went to purge themselves of whatever excess (food or drink) they had indulged? Well...no.


The idea of inducing vomiting and quick trips to the vomitorium” is a modern misinterpretation attributed by the Oxford English Dictionary to Aldus Huxley in 1923, but it may have an even earlier 19th century origin [1]. Cultured Romans entirely disapproved of the excessive consumption of food and drink. Indeed, public drunkenness was considered a sign of weakness and could lead to social disgrace. Yet, if after a meal you were feeling unwell, whether from overeating, drinking or otherwise, it was considered wise to use an emetic - something to induce vomiting. Ancient Romans thought it made no sense to remain feeling sick if you could do something about it. This was especially true if one had been “inadvertently” poisoned!


So, the household vomitorium was not a thing yet vomitoria did exist. The first written use of the term was by the Roman author Macrobius in the 5th-century AD. In his work “Saturnalia”, he describes how crowds of people would “spew forth” through the passages inside public venues. In other words, vomitoria were the means by which audiences could enter or leave places like amphitheatres, circuses or theatres. As one example, the Amphitheatrum Flavium (the “Flavian Amphitheatre”, more popularly known as the “Colosseum”) in Rome had 80 vomitoria, 76 of which were for the general public, plus four Grand Entrances for Rome’s elite citizens. The ground-level arches one can still see today admitted spectators to internal corridors running around the amphitheatre. These in turn gave access to the staircases and passageways leading to the building’s tiers of seats. It is these passages situated below and/or behind the seating that were called vomitoria from which, it was boasted, the Colosseum could be emptied at the end of a performance in just 15 minutes. Our notion, therefore, of vomiting comes from thousands of homeward bound Romans literally “spewing forth” from the exits.

 

Reference:


Malik, S., (2023), “Q&A”, BBC History magazine April 2023 edition, p. 32.


Endnote:


1. Victorian writers and journalists in the 19th-century spread the misconception because it suited their biased notions of ancient Roman excess. Such ideas likewise pervaded the public's imagination back then, and sadly still do today.

©2022 by Tastes Of History

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