Roman denarii of Alnwick
Roman denarii found near Hadrian’s Wall. The artifacts date back to the middle of the 2nd century CE. and are now in the collection of the Duke of Northumberland at Alnwick Castle, Northern England.
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Curiosities of ancient Rome
The world of ancient Romans abounded in a number of amazing curiosities and information. The source of knowledge about the life of the Romans are mainly works left to us by ancient writers or discoveries. The Romans left behind a lot of strange information and facts that are sometimes hard to believe.
Only free-born Roman men were allowed to wear toga
Only free-born Roman men were allowed to wear the toga (symbol of citizenship). Putting on a toga was a difficult, not to say burdensome activity. The strip of fabric was folded lengthwise, one end was thrown over the left shoulder, a toga was placed over the back, the other end was passed under the right shoulder and thrown over the left shoulder from the front.
Ancient column being part of Achilleus’ tomb
An ancient column that is part of a tomb from the 3rd century BCE. On the stone is the inscription “Achilleus, son of Prothymus, be happy even in the underworld”.
Left-handed Roman was unlucky
Left-handed Romans were considered unlucky and untrustworthy. It is worth adding that left-handed gladiators were considered a “special element” of the show.
Emperor Elagabalus was wife
One of the disgusting ideas of Emperor Elagabalus was to marry a Greek slave, Hierocles. Officially, their relationship did not have legal force, because the ancient Romans did not envisage the institution of homosexual marriage.
Long Roman roads
By the end of the 2nd century CE (for over 5 centuries), Roman engineers built about 48,500 Roman miles (71,700 km) paved roads. Less than 100 years later, the inventory of Emperor Diocletian showed the existence of 372 roads in the area of the empire with a total length of 53,000 Roman miles (over 78.3 thousand km).
