This page cannot be viewed in frames

Go to page

If you have found a spelling error, please, notify us by selecting that text and pressing Ctrl+Enter.

Articles

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.

Case of Publius Sestius

In the final period of the existence of the Roman Republic, violence became an integral part of politics. In the period under discussion, it was mainly the responsibility of Publius Clodius and Titus Milo. However, apart from them, another politician, Publius Sestius, also played a role in the fighting in the streets.

Death of Clodius

“Barbarians” – what is true and what is fiction?

Recently, the latest production of Netflix on the subject of ancient Rome appeared – “Barbarians”, which certainly encouraged many to watch, and me personally to buy access to the Netflix platform. Was it worth it and is the plot consistent with the historical truth? What will we find in the six episodes of the series?

Barbarians from Netflix

Legal status, recruitment, service, relations of soldiers in Roman army

The Roman army of the early empire is still considered to be the unrivalled role model in terms of quality, discipline and efficiency. The aim of the article is to show what the Roman army looked like from the inside: what the legal status of soldiers was; what the recruitment and training process and the service itself looked like; and, above all, what relations prevailed in the units between comrades in arms.

Roman soldiers on the march

Cicero and his thought

The works of the eminent Roman speaker, politician and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero (January 3, 106 – December 7, 43 BCE) are undoubtedly an icon of an ancient culture that laid the foundations our civilization in terms of legal, moral and social.

Bust of Cicero from the 19th century. It is in the collection of the Myślewicki Palace in Warsaw

City walls – a lesser-known face of Pompeii

The city walls of Pompeii were not built by the Romans, but by a local Italic people, an Osco-Samnite population, long before the formal incorporation of the city into the Roman state after the Social War (1st century BC). During this war, the Samnite fortifications allowed Pompeii to resist – perhaps with success – the legions of Lucius Cornelius Sulla. What did the fortifications look like and what do we know about their centuries-old history?

Tower XI and the city wall in Pompeii

Cimmerians

At the far west, near islands (where, according to Homer, live personifications of dreams), close to gates, which follow to Underground, was supposed to live mythical folk – Cimmeroi (Homer, Odyssey, book XI,  lines 14-19). We do not know habits of the tribe nor other information about their lives, because they are only mentioned as “the folk of land, where rays of sunshine does not come”.

Ovid among the Scythians

Earthquake in Antioch in 115 CE

On December 13, 115 CE1, an unusually strong earthquake occurred in Antioch. Current estimates give strength of 7.5 on the Richter scale and 11 on the Mercalli scale. Antioch and the surrounding area were completely destroyed. To top it all off, the quake caused a local tsunami that seriously damaged the port of Caesarea Maritima in Judea (present-day Israel).

Ancient road in Antioch

Primary methods of ownership acquisition in ancient Rome

Apart from the derivative methods of transfer of ownership, requiring involvement from the previous owner (mancipation, in iure cessio, tradition), there were also primary methods recognised in the Roman law. Appropriation, accession, modification, acquisition of property from utilities, discovery of a treasure and usucaption all belong to this category. These methods were independent of the previous owner’s rights.

Court scene in old Rome expulsion of the Sophists, 1899, by Paget, Henry  Marriott

Spelling error report

The following text will be sent to our editors: