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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.
When the Roman emperor Caligula asked one of the exiles, what he was doing in exile, he replied that all this time he had prayed for death of Tiberius and ascending the throne of Caligula. The Emperor, after a moment of reflection, decided to send his agents over the islands to murder all those whom he sentenced to exile during his reign.
Suetonius indicates that the emperor Caligula was heavily mentally unbalanced. Apparently, the ruler was very worried about the fact that under his rule there was no great tragedy that would have gone down in history.
During the battle of Lake Trasimeno, a strong earthquake took place. As mentioned by Livy, the Romans and Carthaginians who were fighting at that time were so absorbed in the fight, that they did not even feel the trembling of the earth.
When Nero was a boy his favorite topic for conversations were chariot races in Circus; though he did so against the teacher’s prohibition. Once, Nero complained to another student that the driver of the Greens was dragged by a chariot on earth.
Caligula was famous – according to ancient sources – for his unstable behavior. I.e. when during the games the crowd supported another team than the Emperor Caligula, he was supposed to say: “Would that the Roman people had but one neck”.
Nero often participated in the Olympic Games as a charioteer. During one of them he even carried a chariot drawn by ten horses. It did not matter to him that earlier he had criticized king Mithridates for exactly the same, claiming that just king wanted to show off. During the race, Nero dropped from the chariot and the servants had to help him get back to the platform.
Diocletian who introduced the principle of the rule of tetrarchy ruled in 284-305 CE. He remained in charge until he was confident enough to abdicate; then he ordered his aide Maximian to do likewise. Diocletian began the life of an ordinary citizen. For seven years he lived in his magnificent palace in Split (Croatia).
Neron, as a true music lover and singer, not wanting to lose his great voice did not give up any exercises that professional singers did. Exercises used by him are: lying on the back with flat pieces of lead on the chest, using an enema, taking antiemetics, using a diet that excludes apples and other fruits that are said to have a bad effect on the voice color.
Pliny the Younger – Roman writer and politician from the first and second century CE – in one of his letters, describes an amazing story about the ghost to a man named Licinius Sura. This is an amazing antique story from the Halloween topic.
