In ancient times, Roman emperors issued many regulations and collected dozens of different taxes. Under the emperors Nero and Vespasian, the Roman people had to pay taxes… urine. Accordingly, this is one of the ugliest taxes that have ever existed.
As the head of the country, holding the ultimate power, the Roman emperors issued many laws and regulations. To replenish the depleted coffers, some Roman princes adopted tax collection to fill empty pockets.
History records emperors Nero and Vespasian found a way to earn large sums of money by taxing … urine .
The reason urine is also taxed is because it is used in people’s daily activities.
In it, the emperor Vespasian let people build public toilets to collect fees in the context of the empty treasury due to the prolonged civil war. The reason urine is also taxed is because it is used in people’s daily activities.
Specifically, people collect urine from collection sites. Later, urine was used to wash dirt on clothes as well as for tanning leather. In addition, urine was also used by the Romans to brush their teeth to make them whiter.
When he saw his father – Emperor Vespasian – come up with the initiative to build the first toll-free public toilet in the history of the world, this prince’s son Titus voiced his objection. Seeing this, Emperor Vespasian told his son that collecting urine tax through the toilet was not a problem because he made a lot of money.
This is also believed to be the origin of the famous Roman saying “Pecunia non olet” (roughly translated “Coin has no smell”).