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Curiosities of ancient Rome

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.

Emperor Augustus and talking ravens

When Augustus returned to Rome after the victory over Antony at Actium (31 BCE), a man with a raven was among those people who were greeting him. The bird greeted Octavian with the words: “Hail Caesar, the victorious commander”. August bought a bird for twenty thousand sesterces. Then the acquaintance of this man, caused by envy, reported that he had another bird.

Raven

Britain – island!

Julius Agricola, a Roman commander from the 1st century CE, significantly contributed to Roman expansion in Britain and broke the strength of the Caledonian tribes for a generation. After the victorious battle of Mons Graupius Agricola gave the prefect of the fleet an order to sail along the coasts to the north, which made it clear that Britain was an island.

Roman Britain

Were Roman legionaries really short?

There is a widespread belief that Roman legionaries were short and compensated for their poor physical conditions, e.g. in clashes with Gauls or Germans, with great discipline, organization and equipment. How was it really?

Roman legionary

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