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The world of the ancient Romans was rich in extraordinary, and sometimes even surprising, facts. We draw our knowledge of Roman daily life, customs, and mentality primarily from works left by ancient writers and historians. It is thanks to them that we discover information that is astonishing today – sometimes even hard to believe. Below are some interesting facts that reveal a lesser-known and less obvious side of the Roman world.
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Romans were very superstitious. They believed in many things that they could not logically explain. For example, the old superstition was known – kissing a female mule in the nostrils cured hiccups and a runny nose. It was also believed that some people were capable of hurting others just by looking at them. Such superstition was called the “evil eye”.
The price of slaves in ancient Rome varied greatly. After a victorious military campaign, in which many slaves were captured, the price was naturally low due to the multitude of goods. Plautus (c. 250 BCE – 184 BCE) mentions that the conservative Cato the Elder was willing to pay between 500 and 1500 denarii for a slave.
Lilybaeum (today’s Marsala) was an ancient city founded on the initiative of Carthaginians, who considered the southwestern coast of Sicily as their base of operations on the island. The walls were connected in a straight line and separated a fragment of the area with the fortress.
Roman helmet once belonged to a gladiator of type provocator. Object dated to the 1st century CE and is on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.
Roman children (both boys and girls) were home-schooled Latin, elementary reading, writing and arithmetic. During this period of their lives, their most important teachers were their parents, who were to prepare them for life in the state.
Ancient source texts very often convey stories in which the tragic events for the heroes were previously heralded by various strange events. Valerius Maximus tells us the story of a certain Cassius Parmensis, one of the assassins of Julius Caesar in the ides of March 44 BCE.
