Curiosities of ancient Rome

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Fish on Roman fresco

Fish on Roman fresco. The object is discovered in Pompeii. The artifact is located in The British Museum.

Decorative Roman table – cartibulum

Roman stone table (cartibulum), in the form of a single support, in the shape of a panther. The object was discovered at Pompeii; it is in the British Museum. Such artifacts were found in Roman homes, especially in the atrium, ... Read more

Roman army decorated iron shield boss

Roman army decorated iron shield boss (umbo) with IUPPITER (Jupiter). The piece is around 70mm wide and was originally attached to the wooden shield by nails – the holes remain visible. Object discovered in Britain.

Ballista quadrirotis – ballista on cart

Ballista quadrirotis is a weapon that Roman troops could have used. Information about this weapon appears in the anonymous work “De rebus bellicis” from the 4th-5th century CE. It presents the weapon as a ballista mounted on a four-wheeled cart ... Read more

Artisans and technologies in ancient Rome

Preserved objects show that the ancient Romans were excellent craftsmen, working with a variety of materials: from leather, fabrics, wood to metal and glass. In some areas, pottery was developed on a mass scale, with large workshops producing millions of ... Read more

Glass brain of Vesuvius

Man’s brain turned to glass in hot ash cloud from Vesuvius. Nearly 2,000 years after a young man died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, scientists have discovered that his brain was preserved when it turned to glass in an ... Read more

Roman glass cameo

Roman glass cameo that shows the upper half of the goddess Venus Anadyomene (rising from the sea) touching her hair. The artifact is in The British Museum.

Giant blocks of Baalbek

Baalbek is home to one of the most impressive quarries of antiquity, known primarily for its gigantic stone blocks, such as the “Pregnant Woman Stone” (Hajjar al-Hibla). The largest of these weighs about 1,000 tons and is one of the ... Read more

Pyxis – an ancient treasure box

Pyxis is a cylindrical vessel with a lid, used in ancient Greece and Rome to store jewelry, cosmetics, perfumes and even poisons. Initially made of boxwood wood (Greek pyksos – boxwood), with time they began to be created from ceramics, ... Read more

Agrippa Postumus

Agrippa Postumus (12 BCE – 14 CE) was born as Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus and was the son of Marcus Agrippa – the famous general of Augustus – and Julia, the daughter of the emperor. He owed his nickname Postumus, ... Read more
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