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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.
Laudatio Iuliae amitae was a funeral speech given by Julius Caesar in 68 BCE in honour of his deceased aunt Julia (wife of Gaius Marius). The beginning of Caesar’s laudation (laudatio funebris) was preserved in the work of Suetonius, in which he praised the origin of the family.
Temple of the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux) in Agrigento was built in the middle of the 5th century BCE. The preserved four columns prove that they were made in the Doric order. The building had six columns on both sides; of the other two, thirteen.
Parricidia, was one of the most serious crimes in Roman criminal law. The term was used to refer to the killing of relatives.
Information about a luxurious Roman dish – the so-called The “Trojan pig” comes from the 5th century and we owe it to the scientist Macrobius. Macrobius himself describes the meaning of the dish as follows: “made pregnant with other animals and enclosed within as the Trojan horse was made pregnant with armed men”.
Tablet (No. 311) discovered at the Roman camp of Vindolanda, in northern England. In the letter, Sollemnis addresses a certain Paris (a soldier of the third Batavian cohort), to whom he points out that he did not send him even a single message. The object is now in The British Museum and dates back to the 1st century CE.
The Tarpeian Rock (saxum Tarpeium, mons Tarpeius, arx Tarpeia), is the slope of the Capitoline Hill named after the Vestal of Virgin – Tarpea, who betrayed Rome for promises of gold bracelets/epaulettes worn by the Sabines. After conquering the city, the Sabines threw her shields over her, causing her death, and buried her on the hill. In memory of this gruesome act, the hillside is called the Tarpeian Rock.
A preserved Roman road that used to lead from Londinium (London) north to Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) and Eboracum (York).
