Sincere question: why do we assume people in the past were so filthy?
I'm sure there are notable examples of unhygienic cities or buildings (I've read about a few) but in general one suspects there may be a tendency to exaggerate the "uncivilized" nature of people from the past. Romans clearly put a lot of values in their baths, for example, which suggests a people who value cleanliness.
Uninformed on this, so interested to hear a perspective!
I'm sure there are notable examples of unhygienic cities or buildings (I've read about a few) but in general one suspects there may be a tendency to exaggerate the "uncivilized" nature of people from the past. Romans clearly put a lot of values in their baths, for example, which suggests a people who value cleanliness.
Uninformed on this, so interested to hear a perspective!