Curiosities of ancient Rome (Ancient stories)

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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.

Roman story about ghost from letters of Pliny the Younger

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…Więcej

Tiberius and Apoxyomenos

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…Więcej

Disobedient son – Titus Manlius Torquatus

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…Więcej

Kill Pyrrhus!

Claudius Aelianus mentions that doctor of Pyrrhus – Cineas, wrote a secret letter to the Roman senate and demanded money, promising to murder Pyrrhus using poison. The senators rejected his offer, saying that “for Romans…Więcej

Request from Augustus veteran

There is a story saying that one day, to the Emperor Augustus, came his former soldier who took part in the battle of Actium (31 BCE). The veteran asked August to defend him in court.…Więcej

Great-grandfather of Lucius Sergius Catiline

The great grandfather of Lucius Sergius Catiline, a Roman who tried to overthrow the republic in the year 63 BCE, was the hero of the Second Punic War. He was named M. Sergius Silus. He…Więcej

Bad luck of Pasitiles

Pliny the Elder mentions that in the first century BCE an artist from southern Italy named Pasitiles went to the wharf – where African animals were kept for performances in the arena – to engrave…Więcej

Spartacus trick

When Spartacus and his army were surrounded by Romans, he decided to do the trick. He ordered to tie the bodies of fallen comrades to poles outside the camp and arm them with available equipment.…Więcej

Elagabalus married Vestal Virgin

Emperor Elagabalus (reigned in 218-222 CE) was famous for scandalous behavior. One of his worst offenses for the public was being in the relation with priestess of the Roman goddess of a home bonfire, Vesta,…Więcej

Brutus – traitor forever

Marcus Junius Brutus is still the embodiment of betrayal. Although today we know him almost exclusively as a killer of Caesar during his lifetime he was also famous as an outstanding rhetorician and expert on…Więcej

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