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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.
Fayum mummy portraits were realistic portraits made on wood, which were folded at the Egyptian mummies of the reign of the Romans. It was a so-called array painting, which was extremely popular in ancient times. About 900 such paintings have survived to our times.
Romans ate three meals during the day, in which women also participated. In the morning between eight and nine, the Romans ate breakfast so écantaculum, in the middle of the day between eleven and noon they ate the prandium (second breakfast, dinner) and finally the most important meal was dinner, between the third and the fourth hour.
Found in the former Roman camp – Vindolanda – in England, bath clog, which was worn not to get burned from the hot floor in the bathhouse.
The Romans were the first to achieve mastery in getting permanent cement and building strong arches. Romans produced cement from a mixture of lime and volcanic rock.
In source messages, we can find information that confirms how widespread and important to ancient Romans was counting on the fingers. An example is Quintilian, who mentions that knowledge of numbers is needed not only for speakers but also for anyone who can write. A speaker who can not perform basic calculations shows hesitation and shows abnormal gestures with his fingers immediately loses confidence.
Tironian notes (notae Tironianae) were a Roman system of rapid writing, which appeared in the last years of the Roman Republic. It assumed usage of shorthand.
Roman bust of Alexander the Great, excavated from the ruins of Herculaneum. Currently located in Blenheim Palace Oxfordshire, England.
There is a widespread – mistaken – belief that the ancient Romans always wore sandals and dressed in tunics to withstand the warm climate in the Mediterranean. It must be remembered, however, that Roman legions conquered also Gaul, Germania or Britain. There, temperatures, like today, were lower and in the winter heavy snow was falling. The Romans, wanting to survive in such conditions, had to protect the body against hypothermia.
Roman strigil, made of bronze. Dated to the 1st century BCE.
