10 Things you Didn’t Know about Ancient Rome

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3Ancient Romans did not throw up to eat more

The misinformation began in the not-so-distant past — probably in the early ’60s. The word “vomitorium” was first used in Aldous Huxley’s 1923 comic novel “Antic Hay,” but it wasn’t until writer Lewis Mumford’s 1961 book “The City in History” that readers get an in-depth definition.

The novel describes a vomitorium as a place where the Romans emptied their stomachs to make room for another helping of dinner, but that wasn’t quite true. A vomitorium really referred to a theater passageway that “disgorged” the thespian goers to their seats.