If you have found a spelling error, please, notify us by selecting that text and pressing Ctrl+Enter.
Ancient stories are curiosities revealing lesser-known, surprising, or unusual episodes from the world of ancient Rome and antiquity. This category includes short stories about events, people, and situations that don’t always make it into classical works, yet allow for a better understanding of the realities and mentality of the era.
Publius Vedius Pollio was a Roman equestrian and friend of the first emperor, Octavian Augustus. His father was a freedman; Pollio made a huge fortune by managing the province of Asia on behalf of emperor; i.e. he owned a huge villa on the Bay of Naples, where he was breeding predatory moray eels, which he would devour disobedient or making mistakes to slaves. His brutal habits were known throughout Rome and extremely outraged the public.
From the beginning of the 1st century CE, Roman society, and especially aristocratic families demanded more and more luxury goods imported from India. Among the Romans, pepper, ginger, all kinds of spices and exotic animals in the form of elephants or monkeys were in demand. This resulted in a huge increase in Roman trade expeditions to India, but they focused mainly on the west coast of the peninsula.
According to Suetonius, when Julius Caesar in 49 BCE crossed the Rubicon, he decided to appear at a rally in front of his soldiers and speak to them to prove his point.
The siege of Jerusalem, defended by Jewish insurgents against the Romans, lasted for several months in 70 CE. The defenders were deceptive many times, and he did not fail to mention Josephus – our main source of information about those events.
In 294 CE king of Persia – Narseh, son of the great Shapur I, led a surprise invasion of the Roman Empire. Galerius in the office of Caesar, with the help of smaller forces, delayed the Sassanid attack while awaiting the arrival of Augustus’ reinforcements Diocletian.
During the war between Macrinus and Elagabalus, the Battle of Immae in 218 took place. The Praetorians were to face the famous Legio II Parthica. This battle was unusual from the beginning: Cassius Dio reports that the emperor ordered his army to fight without armour. Despite the lack of armour, the praetorians forced the army of the usurper, but for some reason, Macrinus chickened out and fled the battlefield, thanks to what Elagabalus finally won (Cassius Dio LXXVIII 37).
Trajan is considered one of the best Roman emperors in history. During his reign, the Roman Empire reached its military and territorial peak. What distinguished Trajan was the fact that he greatly respected the Senate, what after years of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, was not something obvious.
Cassius Dio tells about an interesting discussion between the wife of Septimius Severus – Julia Domna, and taken captive wife of the Caledonian chieftain, Argentocoxus, which is not known from the name. The conversation was supposed to take place during the emperor’s military campaign in the north of Britain.
The Romans appreciated the possibility of relaxing in the baths. Of course, the full pleasure of bathing could be experienced thanks to special additives such as oils or scrapers. A slave or bathman (balneator) hired for an appropriate fee could definitely make the stay more enjoyable.
