This page cannot be viewed in frames

Go to page

If you have found a spelling error, please, notify us by selecting that text and pressing Ctrl+Enter.

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.

Trepanation – solution to headaches

In ancient Rome, trepanation was seen as the best method to get rid of severe headaches and madness. It was believed that the hole in the head allowed the evil spirit to leave the wretched body and bring relief.

Skull after trepanation

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).

Roman road

Contemporary reconstruction of trireme

In the years 1985-1987 the ancient trireme (“three oars”) called “Olympias”, used by the Greeks, was recreated on a 1: 1 scale. These types of ships were naturally also used by other ancient armies, such as Rome or Carthage.

A modern reconstruction of a trireme named Olympias

Fuller in Roman world

In the ancient Greco-Roman world, fulling machines were involved in both the production and washing of fabrics. During the excavations at Pompeii destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE several great fulling workshops were discovered, and the best-preserved and located at the so-called Abundance Street belonged to a certain Stefanus.

Roman stone "bathtub" in which fullers worked. Located in Pompeii

Spelling error report

The following text will be sent to our editors: