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Curiosities of ancient Rome
The world of the ancient Romans was rich in extraordinary, and sometimes even surprising, facts. We draw our knowledge of Roman daily life, customs, and mentality primarily from works left by ancient writers and historians. It is thanks to them that we discover information that is astonishing today – sometimes even hard to believe. Below are some interesting facts that reveal a lesser-known and less obvious side of the Roman world.
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Four people, three faces. Geta erased from the Severan family portrait.
A circular wooden panel barely 30.5 centimetres across contains four members of the imperial family, yet only three faces survive. Septimius Severus, Julia Domna and Caracalla still look out from a portrait painted around 200 CE. The figure of the couple’s second son remains in place, but his face has been scraped away almost to the bare wood. This was no accidental loss. Someone deliberately removed the very feature that made Geta identifiable.
Silver mines – adeffered death sentence?
Following its victory in the Second Punic War (201 BCE) and the conquest of the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula, the Roman Republic – and subsequently the Empire – began the intensive exploitation of the region’s metal deposits. Silver was among the most valuable resources and also the most dangerous to mine; it served as the basis for Rome’s coinage.
Twelve faces, zero answers. The greatest mystery in Roman archaeology
The Romans left behind thousands of texts, inscriptions, and objects that allow us today to reconstruct a surprising number of details about their lives. And yet there is one object whose purpose we still cannot explain. What’s more, not a single contemporary description or depiction survives to tell us what it actually was.
Face of Roman child from 1,800 years ago
In 1878, during archaeological work in Paris, a Roman sarcophagus containing the burial of a small child was discovered. The find comes from the area of ancient Lutetia, a Roman city that developed on the site of present-day Paris. Preserved within the grave was a remarkable imprint of the face of the child, who was between six and twelve months old at the time of death.
Divine hare
There are six species of hare found in Europe (Lepus europaeus, L. timidus, L. granatensis, L. castroviejoi, L. corsicanus, and L. capensis). Unlike their close relatives, rabbits, they have never been domesticated. Although their population has now declined significantly, hares were once a common sight, especially in rural areas. It’s no surprise, then, that they also appeared in almost all ancient cultures and mythologies – from Britain and Rome to Greece and Egypt and Persia.
Nero’s night watchmen. How the vigiles fought fires and crime
Densely populated Rome was a city under constant threat from fire. Tall, tightly packed residential buildings and the widespread use of fire in everyday life meant that fires ranked among the greatest dangers faced by the city’s inhabitants. Plutarch even describes how Marcus Licinius Crassus exploited these fires to increase his wealth, buying up burning or threatened buildings for next to nothing.
“Patcham Woman” – mysterious woman from Roman Britain
The “Patcham Woman” is one of the most intriguing figures from the Roman period in Britain. Her remains were discovered in 1936 in Patcham, now part of Brighton, southern England. Bone analysis, DNA testing, and facial reconstruction have allowed us to reconstruct not only the woman’s approximate appearance but also some details about her life.
Emperor who invented new letters: Claudius’ forgotten alphabet reform
Emperor Claudius, regarded by his contemporaries as a harmless eccentric, a stammerer, and a reclusive scholar, surprised Rome after unexpectedly coming to power in 41 CE with a decision that even many enthusiasts of antiquity know little about today. He introduced three entirely new letters into the Latin alphabet and, by imperial decree, attempted to impose their use in official documents and on public buildings. The reform survived for exactly as long as his reign did.
