Curiosities of ancient Rome (Ancient stories)

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.

Gaius Mucius Scaevola was a hero of the Romans, who became famous for his courage. Probably this story, which comes from the work of Livy, is just a legend.

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.

Emperor Tiberius admired very much the statue of the Lysippos – showing Apoxyomenos, an athlete cleaning his body with a wooden scraper (stryngilos). The original statue has not survived to our times. The sculpture is known for its marble copy at the Pio-Clementino Museum in the Vatican.

Livy states that during the war with Latins, Volsci and Campania in 340 BCE, Titus Manlius Torquatus, the son of consul Aulus Manlius Torquatus broke father’s order. At this time, Rome fought with tribes which used the same weapon, had the same customs and language and tactics.