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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, the very birth of a child was a solemn event for the household. When the boy was born, the door of the house was decorated with olive branches. When the girl was born – woollen ribbons. Shortly after birth, the infant was placed at the father’s feet – as the master of the house and family, who was to decide his future.
Ancient Greeks and Romans identified frogs with harmony, fertility or debauchery and the goddess Aphrodite (Venus). Ancient writers devoted numerous texts to frogs, including “Batrachomyomachia”, which tells about the war of mice with frogs and is heroicomic. The authorship of this work is unknown, but Homer is considered the creator.
In the south of Spain (central Andalusia) there are remains of the Roman city Virtus Iulia. The site is located within the Torreparedones archaeological site.
When we hear about Roman soldiers, we see in front of us a well-equipped Jewish legionary fighting in the formation testudo. We do not realize that one of the first types of a warrior in the Roman army was a heavy-armed hoplite who looked completely different from the legionary.
Ancient Rome was shaken by slave uprisings that were usually caused by the mistreatment of slaves. However, there was one uprising that was more romantic. Titus Vettius, who came from a good equities house, fell in love with a beautiful slave who belonged to another Roman.
Roman children’s toy found in the child’s grave at the archaeological site of Više in the Roman city of Viminacium (around the city of Kostolac, in eastern Serbia).
In ancient Rome, at the beginning of the day, there was faith in divination, good and bad omen announcing future events and superstitions. Such faith did not always end pleasantly for everyone, especially if a man was considered to be the evil sign that heralded the misfortune that would come.
There is a popular belief that ancient Romans after defeating Carthage in 146 BCE not only razed the city to the ground but also sprinkled it with salt, in order to make sure that nothing would grow in these hated areas.
Roman cameo collection. Carved images of Roman deities are visible on the stones. Dated to 2nd – 3rd century CE. Objects were found in the Roman city of Singidunum (now Belgrade, Serbia).
