Curiosities of ancient Rome (Ancient stories)

Suetonius in his work “Lives of the Caesars” devoted to successive rulers up to the times of Domitian (81-96 CE) mentions many amazing stories from wars that are intended to interest the reader and emphasize the heroism of the Romans.

In the winter of 102 BCE, one of the legions was sent to the Adige valley, near today’s Trento. Consul Quintus Lutatius Catulus, with this movement, wanted to delay the movements of the incoming Cimbri – Germanic invaders from the north. Unfortunately for the legionaries, the Cimbri encircled their position and prepared to destroy the Roman forces in the valley.

One of the disgusting ideas of Emperor Elagabalus was to marry a Greek slave, Hierocles. Officially, their relationship did not have legal force, because the ancient Romans did not envisage the institution of homosexual marriage.

The Romans were very superstitious. For example, Consul Lucius Aemilius Paulus before embarking on the Macedonian War with king Perseus (in Latin Perseus or Perses) came to the house, where his daughter told him: “Perses is dead” – it was about their dog named Perses. The overjoyed consul took this as a favourable omen.

Thanks to the preserved work of Pliny the Elder – “Natural history” – we get to know many interesting observations that people had in ancient times regarding many animals. A great example of “unusual” behaviour is information about elephants.

Mark Antony was an outstanding Roman commander and a faithful supporter of Gaius Julius Caesar. After his death, he led the “Caesarians”, defeated in the Battle of Philippi Cassius and Brutus to finally bond with Cleopatra VII and come into conflict with Gaius Octavian, the adopted son of Caesar.

Ancient source texts very often convey stories in which the tragic events for the heroes were previously heralded by various strange events. Valerius Maximus tells us the story of a certain Cassius Parmensis, one of the assassins of Julius Caesar in the ides of March 44 BCE.

According to Roman legend, the ancestors of the Romans descended from refugees (including Aeneas) from burning Troy who settled and built cities in Latium.

Marcus Salvius Otho went down in history as a ruler who would rather give his life than compete for the throne when it would involve a fratricidal war Romans. In a situation where his troops suffered heavy losses but were not destroyed by Vitellius, Oton decided to pierce his heart with a dagger he hid under a pillow in his tent. In this way, Othon wanted to save the country from further shedding of fratricidal blood. He did it despite the fact that his soldiers showed a willingness to continue the fight.

Valerius Maximus in his work Factorum et dictorum memorabilium libri novem presents interesting events in the history of Rome, in which omens and the superstition of the Romans were to play an important role.