Julian the Apostate’s Sleeping Advice: Sleep on the Ground and Your Mattress is Freeeeeeeeeee

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Ever since meeting Michael Garcia and Stephanie Wing-Garcia, inventors of the sand mattress that we profiled in a blog post and podcast, I’ve been thinking about the terrible mattress that Kelly and I sleep on and the possibility that the way we sleep contributes to aches and pains later in life. It’s possible that the softness of our mattresses are making our muscles and bones weak, just like the terrible running shoes and orthotics that ruin our feet and collapse our arches.

It turns out that the last pagan Roman emperor has ideas about how we should sleep. Ammianus Marcellinus’ Roman History Book I, contains a description of emperor Julian the Apostate’s austere sleeping habits:

And when the night was half over, he always got up, not from a downy couch or silken coverlets glittering with varied hues, but from a rough blanket and rug, which the simple common folk call susurna.

The Loeb edition of Marcellinus’ Roman History defines susurna as, “A coarse blanket made from the fur or hide of an animal.” 

Julian slept this way so as to stay in a state of readiness during his Gaul campaign and as way to prevent falling into the trap of luxury and flattery that consumed so many of his predecessors. His habits remind me of a couple I met who, despite being well into their 70s and living in a fashionable downtown apartment, slept on the floor so as to be always prepared for their beloved hobby: hiking the Pacific Coast Trail.

Bonus idea: clothes as mattress

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In researching the susurna, I discovered another ancient Roman sleeping hack. A cloak made from a square piece of cloth that succeeded the toga in the late Roman period, called the pallium (Ancient Greek ἱμάτιον) could also double as a blanket or bedding. Isn’t it time to revive this idea?

Our neighborhood is fashion forward enough to allow folks to strut around in a pallium without much blowback particularly if you’re a young hipster. I predict that soon after I spot the first pallium wearer at our local Trader Joes, REI will come out with “tech” palliums suitable for hiking, urban philosophizing and sleeping.

Addendum: Kelly pointed out to me that fantasy literature is full of examples of cloaks doubling as bedding. 

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6 Comments

  1. I can sleep on the floor; it’s just so difficult to get up. My new mattress resembled a hammock after six months. Mama had Daddy build a wood platform and she bought a piece of six-inch hard foam. She had back problems. Now, I am considering getting a piece of plywood to put on my bedframe and using a piece of foam! When the foam was not doing the job, she just replaced the foam.

  2. I’ve got to go with hammocks as the ultimate bed, that is as long as you can find somewhere to hang it and your significant other doesn’t mind sharing one or sleeping in a separate one……..Having camped on everything from an air mattress to camping pads or nothing but the ground, for me sleeping on the ground gets old really fast, there are always rocks that seem to let you know that they’re there.
    Back in the day I always carried a hammock for camping, if it rained or was really cold I would string parachute cord across the top and drape a poncho over like a tent, and bonus you’re off the ground, you won’t get flooded out and no snakes or insects will shack up with you! I now have a nice $25 nylon hammock hanging in the backyard, I love sleeping/napping in it whenever possible.

    http://www.criticalcactus.com/hammock-sleeping-benefits/

  3. It’s funny you mention using capes as blankets. I flew into Northern Thailand yesterday and saw many hip young travelers with a cape or large shawl to use as a blanket on the plane. It’s a need if you are traveling on a budget airline. Those REI ads should be up momentarily.

  4. I’ve always wanted to sleep in a hammock, but I’ve never minded sleeping on the floor in a blanket or two. You never run out of space to sprawl around.

  5. I’ve actually been sleeping on the floor for about six weeks. The first few nights were a bit rough, but I have had my best ongoing quality of sleep in years. I still have the occasional night that I toss and turn a bit but, overall, I’m sleeping like a rock. Probably the most notable change is that my ribcage and mid-back have really opened up as a result of the compression on the floor. My posture really is better as a result.

    Now, I want to find an affordable way to transition my other bed to a proper sleeping area that doesn’t involve 900 pounds of sand or my current pile of old blankets on the floor. There is a store locally that sells natural Japanese-style futon mattresses that I want to try.

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