Curiosities of ancient Rome (Other)

I have already written about the Scythian invasion of the Middle East in the 7th century BCE. Let’s stay on the topic of the Scythians, because when it comes to ancient history, I must admit that they are the people that fascinate me the most. The Scythians were famous for their customs, which were usually seen as extremely barbaric by the Hellenes. It was no different in the case of the preparation of the Scythian royal burial, the description of which was left to us by perhaps the most famous of the ancient historians, Herodotus.

Scythians and Sarmatians were not the only warrior nomads of Iranian origin described by Herodotus. To the east of them, in the territory of modern Kazakhstan, there were supposed to be the lands of the Massagetae people. They had in common with the Scythians not only their origins and way of life, but both peoples were also famous for defeating the Persians. Before King Darius I suffered defeat at the hands of the Scythians, the founder of the Achaemenid empire, Cyrus II, was allegedly killed by the Massagetae. The queen of this people, named Tomyris, is said to have kept the severed head of the Persian monarch in a sack filled with blood, justifying this by saying that it saturates the blood of those who were not saturated with blood.

Most of my readers probably know who the ancient Scythians were, but for those uninitiated, in short, they were a nomadic Iranian people who in the 7th century BCE settled on the Black Sea steppes, displacing the Cimmerian people related to them. Archaeological traces of the Scythians’ presence are also found in the lands of modern Poland, but we can talk about such wonders as the treasure from Witaszków another time. That’s the introduction in a nutshell. However, did you know that the terrifying invasion of the Scythians on the lands of the Middle East is most likely mentioned in the Old Testament Book of the Prophet Jeremiah?

“Plebs” is the only comedy series set in the times of ancient Rome. It shows the everyday life of ordinary people in a funny way.

Marshal Józef Piłsudski about his historical interests: “The books describing the existence of the classical nations – the Greeks and Romans made the greatest impression on me. Probably because they were filled with details of the struggles for the Homeland and descriptions of heroic deeds. Besides, I was in love with Napoleon and everything that happened. I was concerned about this hero, it touched me with emotion and ignited my imagination”¹.

In 1981, Italian amateur palaeontologist Giovanni Todesco discovered the remains of a new species of dinosaur from the early Cretaceous period. Initially, he decided that the fossil of a small theropod he found must have been the remains of some bird. After watching the film adaptation of Jurassic park in 1993, he came to the conclusion that it might be the remains of a dinosaur.

A 42-year-old Russian tourist was fined EUR 20,000 for engraving a large letter “K” (25 cm high) on the wall of the Colosseum.

German archaeologists are celebrating the discovery of a preserved fragment of a Roman barrel that was found on the site of a former legionary camp in Oberaden, western Germany. Photo taken in 1910.