What did the Romans ever do for us? Lice, fleas and bacterial infections

Study finds that despite hot baths and public lavatories, the Romans spread disease and parasites across the empire

What did the Romans ever do for us? Despite all the hot baths and smart multi-seat public lavatories, the surprising answer turns out to be lice, fleas, bed bugs, bacterial infections from contamination with human faeces, and 25ft-long tapeworms, a misery spread across the empire by the Roman passion for fermented fish sauce.

"It seems likely that while Roman sanitation may not have made people any healthier, they would probably have smelled better," said Piers Mitchell, an expert on ancient diseases at Cambridge University's Department of Archaeology and Anthropology.