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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.
In ancient Rome, during its many years of existence, the army played a key role in conquests, maintaining order, and spreading the empire’s influence. However, with Rome’s expansion, the need to recruit soldiers from various regions and cultures led to the formation of special auxiliary units. These soldiers, often not Roman citizens, had their own path to citizenship through receiving a Roman military diploma.
Whenever I look at the ruins of ancient Rome, I wonder: how could these magnificent buildings be allowed to perish? Why have they not survived to our times? What a pity you can’t see them today…
In central Italy, near the village of San Casciano dei Bagni, unusual finds were discovered in the area of a former Etruscan pool fed by hot springs. Among the discovered artifacts are bronze ears that ancient Romans put on – according to researchers – to ask the gods to hear their prayers. The finds also include sculptures showing body parts, e.g. phallus, womb, breasts, leg or arm.
Roman fresco from a bedroom in a country estate in Gragnano (south of Italy). The object dates back to the 1st century CE.
A rescript issued by Emperor Marcus Aurelius in 176, prohibiting the practice of foreign religions, confirmed the persecution of Christians. The greatest intensity of persecution in that period occurred in 177 in Lugdunum, where Bishop Poteinos, who was over 90 years old, was killed. Saint Justin was martyred in Rome itself.
There is a view that Roman civilization is a continuation of Etruscan civilization1. From this view, and from the history of the lagotto romagnolo breed2, it can be concluded that the ancestors of today’s truffle hunters already accompanied the ancient Romans.
One of the founding myths of the Romanian nation is its direct descent from those conquered by the Romans in the 1st century CE Dacians. To what extent is this true? An alternative theory is the origin of the Vlachs, the ancestors of the Romanians, from Romanian-speaking communities from the areas of today’s Albania, who fled from the Turkish threat to the north, to the Carpathians (participating in the ethnogenesis of our Boykos, Lemkos and Hutsuls) and to the Danube lowlands – let linguists and geneticists decide. The fact is that to this day, only in Romania can parents name their children Decebalus, Hadrian, Trajan or Ovid (the famous poet is buried in Constanta on the Black Sea).
Certainly many of us celebrate the last day of the year, called New Year’s Eve. But how many people know exactly where this name actually comes from?
Agrippina the Younger became famous, among others, as Nero’s mother. She was the daughter of Germanicus – an outstanding Roman leader and Agrippina the Elder. She was born around 16 CE in a city located on the Rhine. Her husband, whom she married at the age of 13, was Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus.
Roman decoration in the shape of a black man, made of bronze. The object is on display in a museum in Herculaneum (Italy).
