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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.
Roman women did not have unique names. They usually took the female form of the family name. This is how Julia came from the Julius family, and for example, the daughter of Marcus Tullius Cicero was called Tulia. This name-surname was the first member of the name of a woman, and for a very long time, until the end of the republic, the only one.
The colour purple was reserved only for the emperor and senators, and any flaunting it was a betrayal. This dye was obtained from spike venom (Murex).
The capital of the Roman Empire in 14 CE had over 750,000 inhabitants, which constituted a tenth of the entire population of Italy. The population of Rome grew to over a million by the end of the 2nd century CE. This number was achieved by western cities only in the 19th century.
The Roman teaching system was largely based on the education of the Greeks. Hence, the teachers of Roman children were most often Greek slaves or freedmen. An example of a Greek who achieved much in Roman education was Livius Andronicus (c. 284 – c. 204 BCE). In 272 BCE in Tarentum, he was taken prisoner and, along with other prisoners of war, was brought to Rome.
Mark Antony was an outstanding Roman commander and a faithful supporter of Gaius Julius Caesar. After his death, he led the “Caesarians”, defeated in the Battle of Philippi Cassius and Brutus to finally bond with Cleopatra VII and come into conflict with Gaius Octavian, the adopted son of Caesar.
An Etruscan head sculpture of a young man. The object was made of bronze and was found on an island in Lake Bolsena (central Italy). It is possible that the object was offered as a gift to an Etruscan deity. The artifact is dated to the 4th century BCE and is now in the British Museum.
Hair dyeing was extremely popular among Roman women. The most famous colours were red, black and blonde. The latter was popular thanks to the Germans and Gauls with whom the Romans began to come into contact. Prostitutes were even legally obliged to have a blonde colour to distinguish themselves from ordinary Romans. However, this did not prevent the residents from dying their hair.
Roman marble relief depicting a couple having sex on a boat while sailing the Nile. A steersman in a pointy hat is standing nearby, and a hippo’s rump is visible in front of the boat. The sex scene is possibly a satirical depiction of Mark Antony and Cleopatra.
