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Curiosities of ancient Rome (Ancient stories)
The world of ancient Romans abounded in a number of amazing curiosities and information. The source of knowledge about the life of the Romans are mainly works left to us by ancient writers or discoveries. The Romans left behind a lot of strange information and facts that are sometimes hard to believe.
Gneus Petreus
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.
Emperor Elagabalus was wife
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.
Superstitious consul Lucius Aemilius Paulus
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.
Amazing information about elephants from Romans
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.
Event that heralds end of Antony
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.
Predicted fate of Cassius Parmensis
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.
Honorary Otho
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.
Fortune-telling events
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.