Curiosities of ancient Rome (Artifact)

Beautiful portrait of a woman from the 2nd century CE from Roman Egypt. The painting was made on wood and placed on an Egyptian mummy.

Stone used in the construction of the Roman fort at Cramond in North West Scotland. There is an abbreviated inscription on the stone: “It was built by the 2nd legion of Augusta, from the century of S…A”. The aforementioned legion operated at the wall of Hadrian and the wall of Antoninus.

Beautiful Roman mosaic depicting a mythological scene – the wedding of Pelops and Hippodameia. Photos, the god of desire, shows the couple entering the bedroom, suggesting an act of love. The names were written in Greek. The object is dated to the end of the 3rd century CE.

Relief on a Roman sarcophagus of argentarius at the counter. The object is located in the Palazzo Massimo – Museo Nazionale Romano in Rome.

Silver denarius Emperor Trajan from 107-108 CE, which was to celebrate the victorious Dacian wars. On the reverse, there is a trophy (the so-called tropaion) of victory in the form of a tree trunk decorated with captured enemy armour and weapons.

Decorated Roman knife handles, made of ivory, depicting gladiators: Pardus and Senilis. Object found in Savaria (present-day Szombathely, western Hungary).

Ancient red marble sculpture depicting a hippopotamus. The object was probably found in the Sallust gardens in Rome and was part of a fountain; water was led from the left front leg to the mouth. It is worth mentioning that hippos were identified with Egypt. The artifact is currently located in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen (Denmark); dating back to the 2nd century CE.

Roman mosaic showing eight fish, two squid and an eel. Object dated to the 1st BCE – 1st century CE; it is now in The British Museum. Found in a Roman villa in Cecchignola, Italy.

A preserved fragment of a Latin historical work (marked as No. 745), on parchment, concerning the Macedonian wars of Rome – De bellis Macedonicis. Dated on the 1st – the beginning of the 2nd century CE. The author of the work is unknown.

Interesting information was left by the Roman tombstone of Lucius Calidius Eroticus and his wife Fannia Voluptatis. The object was found in Isernia, in southern Italy, and dates back to the 1st-2nd century CE.