Curiosities of ancient Rome (Artifact)

Beautiful restored Roman fresco showing wildlife and nature in the Nile Delta. The painting adorned a garden wall at Casa dei Ceii in Pompeii.

Roman tombstone of a horseman named Insus. It is located in the Lancaster Museum in England. The man belonged to the ala August unit. He is shown on the tombstone in a triumphant scene above the fallen barbarian.

An ancient agreement confirming the granting of a loan, from Roman Egypt, and dated May 16, 123 CE. A certain Sokration of Syene (present-day Aswan in southern Egypt) borrowed 109 drachmas to Marcus Annius Balbinus and his sister, Annia Olympias, to pay for an estate in lower Syene.

Roman mosaic showing ostriches being loaded onto a ship. Once captured, the wild animals were kept in large cages to keep them calm and to prevent them from being hurt.

In August 1864, a unique Roman helmet was discovered in a field at Barnaby Grange near Guisborough in the west-central part of England. The find was originally thought to be of Anglo-Saxon or Celtic origin.

A detail of a large mosaic floor in the Roman luxury estate Villa Romana del Casale in Sicily. The fragment shows the scene of transporting animals to the Games and proves how complicated the operation was to organize the ludii.

Roman marble bust showing Marcus Aurelius as a youth. Object dated to the 2nd century CE.

Roman fresco from the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii, showing a representative of the Arimaspian people stealing gold from a griffin. Object dated to the middle of the 1st century BCE.

Itinerarium (literally “journey”) was a Roman map showing cities, smaller centers (vici) and other places of interest to travelers. The only surviving map / note of this type is the so-called Tabula Peutingeriana or Itinerarium Antonini Augusti.

Roman road in Cagliari (Roman city of Carales), Sardinia. The road was built at the end of antiquity and connected the city center with the coast. The object is inside the museum – Museo del Tesoro di Sant’Eulalia.