Curiosities of ancient Rome

Arena and the audience of the Colosseum were covered up with a giant sail (velarium), which was supposed to protect viewers from the sun and rain. It was attached to large columns on the Coliseum Mountain and anchored to the ground with large ropes.

Gladiators received cash prizes for their win. In the event of a decisive and effective victory, the warrior additionally received a laurel wreath. The greatest reward was the release from fighting in the arena, which was shown by handing over a wooden sword. In contrast, convicts and criminals, forced by the authorities to fight, were given freedom if they survived more than three years of fighting.

Pliny the Elder said that scorpions are a terrible plague. They are almost as venomous as vipers, but their venom causes much more torture to the victim who dies in painful agony lasting up to three days. In turn, the Roman writer Claudius Aelianus clearly emphasized that scorpions are hated, and that they hide in the desert under every stone and clod of sand.

In the 1st century BCE Roman poet Gaius Valerius Catullus (c. 84 – c. 54 BCE) wrote a poem that was addressed to two critics of his work: another poet Marcus Furius Bibaculus and senator Marcus Aurelius Cotta Maximus Messalinus. The text was so vulgar and obscene that it was not translated from Latin until the 20th century.