First proposal of life imprisonment
In 63 BCE Cicero, who was the consul, gave his famous speech at a Senate meeting against Lucius Sergius Catilina, a member of an impoverished old patrician family, whom he accused of a planned coup.
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Curiosities of ancient Rome
The world of the ancient Romans was rich in extraordinary, and sometimes even surprising, facts. We draw our knowledge of Roman daily life, customs, and mentality primarily from works left by ancient writers and historians. It is thanks to them that we discover information that is astonishing today – sometimes even hard to believe. Below are some interesting facts that reveal a lesser-known and less obvious side of the Roman world.
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Stay of Caracalla in East
In the years 215-216, Emperor Caracalla travelled through the Balkans, Turkey, and Syria to Egypt and Alexandria. The very expedition of Caracalla to the east was primarily of propaganda and sentimental nature, due to the adoration of the figure of Alexander the Great. It is also possible that the ruler’s entourage was making preparations for the planned Party expedition in the coming years.
Roman slogans on walls
On Roman walls, there were often inscriptions, which often did not differ from ours. Here are some examples.
In semicircle
In ancient Greece, women waxed the bikini line with tar in the shape of a triangle. Roman women depilated themselves in a semicircle, which was confirmed by the plaster casts of the victims of the eruption of Vesuvius in Pompeii in 79 CE.
Seneca’s satire mocking Claudius
Seneca the Younger, a Roman philosopher and writer from the 1st century CE, wrote a satire about Emperor Claudius in revenge for his exile to Corsica in 41 CE. He titled his work: “The Pumpkinification of (the Divine) Claudius” (Apocolocyntosis divi Claudii). Naturally, he wrote his work during the reign of Nero, after Claudius was murdered in 54 CE.
Imperial staff in ancient Rome
In 1726, a great tomb (columbarium) was discovered at via Appia, in which, as it turned out, the ashes of almost a thousand slaves and freedmen belonging to the first empress Livia were buried. In the tomb, there were also badges with names and professions written on them.
Funeral song of Clutorius Priscus
