Roman soldiers defending Hadrian’s Wall had intestinal parasites

Despite their reputation for advanced sanitation, ancient Romans living in a major fort in northern England likely suffered from a series of digestive disorders caused by parasites.

Vindolanda Fort, near Hadrian’s Wall and occupied by Roman soldiers from the 1st to 4th centuries CE, would not have been a place for anyone with a delicate stomach, findings from excavations of the site’s sewage pits suggest.

Piers Mitchell of the University of Cambridge and colleagues collected and analyzed nearly 60 sediment samples from a latrine drain that served a communal toilet believed to have been used in the 3rd century.

Using microscopy, they found the eggs of two intestinal parasites: the roundworm and the whipworm. They also found traces of a single-celled parasite called Giardia duodenaliswhich they identified using antibodies that bind exclusively to proteins from this organism.

All three cause gastrointestinal illnesses that can be serious in children, the elderly, or immunocompromised people.

“Despite their best efforts to create Roman comforts such as public baths and latrines, they still suffered from diarrhea and intestinal worm infections,” says Mitchell.

Infrastructure such as latrines, public baths, aqueducts and water fountains were largely there to improve ambient odor and keep people visibly clean, he said. “Because they didn’t have microscopes, they didn’t understand…many of the infectious diseases that were making them sick.” »

Excavations of a second nearby fort site, occupied in the 1st century and believed to have been a ditch associated with the outpost’s defences, also tested positive for roundworm and whipworm.

“As the contents of the sewers are the mixed feces of many different people who used the latrine, we cannot say what proportion of soldiers were infected,” says Mitchell. “However, [based on] Given that parasite eggs were found throughout the sewer canal, it seems likely that a significant proportion of those using the latrines were infected.

The roundworm and whipworm were found at other sites in the Roman Empire, but Giardia So far, it has only been identified in Roman contexts in Türkiye and Italy, Mitchell says.

He says that if he were to go back in time to when the fort was operational and were asked if he would like a glass of water, he would certainly decline: “I might ask, ‘Do you have any beer I could drink instead?’ »

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