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The Roman state existed in practice for XIII centuries, being the power which was impacting the history. Therefore, I decided that I would tell the history of ancient Rome in the articles below, which will not necessarily cover only the Eternal City.
I encourage you to send articles and point out any corrections or inaccuracies.
When a favourite horse of Emperor Caligula, gracefully named Incitatus (Swift), was appointed senator, many pointed out his Spanish origins and the fact that his original name was Porcellus (Piglet). The benevolent lawmakers were blinded by the sight of Piglet’s golden manger, a harness studded with precious stones, and 18 servants serving the brave senator.
Probably everyone knows or has seen in many films how Rome enjoyed all kinds of shows and performances such as chariot races, gladiator fights, animal fights, and staging of famous battles (especially those where the Romans won). They took place in specially designed buildings called circuses from the Latin circus – circumference or circle.
Antiquity abounds in many colourful characters with interesting lives. Both positive and negative. There is no shortage of statesmen, warriors, chiefs as well as torturers, psychopaths and deviants. One of such characters is undoubtedly Caligula, actually Gaius Iulius Caesar Germanicus.
In ancient Rome, fashion developed more than in Greece. The main reason for this was the difference in the perception of the role of women. Roman women had other privileges, rights, and above all, they had many more freedoms and could participate in public life. Leading a rich social life, the perception of the external image of those interested changed, therefore fashion began to play an increasingly important role in their lives, and jewelry became a fantastic complement to the image of a fashionable Roman woman1.
There are many people in the history of the world whose literature has hurt or distorted our judgment of these people or created a legend that persists in the public eye despite the facts. Lieutenant Ordon did not die in the redoubt in Wola, but many years later in Florence, and the medieval model of a knight, Roland, died at the hands of Basque highlanders, not Arabs.
While reading (or watching) the adventures of Asterix, you must have come across Obelix’s statement: “But those Romans are stupid”. It turns out, however, that the Romans weren’t so stupid after all. Their everyday life may surprise us sometimes, but when you look closely… they are not so distant for us.
Rome’s power, which lasted more than ten centuries, began in 753 BCE. After the destruction of Troy, Aeneas fled a cursed earth ravaged by the Achaean storm. His journey ended only in distant Italy, where he decided to found a new city.
In the Spanish province of Leon, 20 km from Ponferrada, is Las Medulas, the Roman gold digging site. Before the Romans started mining, the local Celtic tribes obtained gold dust from the rivers. Poseidonius of Rhodes, a teacher of Cicero, wrote in the first century BCE about the fact that this precious metal is here.
Monumental St. John in Lateran is probably known to everyone who has been to Rome. But the magnificent structure hides in its basement many ancient secrets that have so far been only partially known. The history of this place is really fascinating – it dates back to the struggle for the domination of Christianity in the Roman world and civil wars for imperial power.
The most famous Roman fortifications are the border fortifications in Europe, such as Hadrian’s wall and Antoninus in Britain, Upper Germanic-Rhaetian limes in southern Germany, Lower Germanic-Rhaetian limes on the Rhine in today’s Germany and the Netherlands. There was Limes Sarmaticus on the Danube, border fortifications were also built in Dacia and the Crimea.
