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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.
What did ancient Romans drink?
Ancient Romans were famous for drinking wine in large quantities. The wine was available to everyone: a slave, a plebeian, a soldier, a woman. The wine also saw children (there was no age limit). The wine to the younger Romans was, however, served with water in the right proportion so that they would not get drunk. Was there anything else besides the red liquid?
What did ancient Romans eat?
The basic ingredient of an ancient Roman dinner was the bread of various types of flour: black bread (panis rusticus, plebeius), white bread (panis secundaris) and the most delicate luxury bread (panis candidus, uniform). There were also popular vegetables: lettuce, cabbage, leeks, chickpeas, broad beans (boiled, roasted), goat’s cheese and olives. Beef and various kinds of venison were valued (including deer meat and wild donkey), however fish dishes were the most favoured.
Oldest known Roman wine
The oldest known Roman wine is dating back to the 4th century CE. The 1.5-liter bottle was found in the tomb of the Roman nobleman in present-day Germany.
Was Roman wine tasty?
What kind of pleasures Romans had thanks to the wine – prof. André Tchernia, a French historian, archaeologist and researcher of ancient wines, tied to find it out. He produced a liquor according to a recipe from the Roman Empire.
Augustus not so weak
The popular opinion is that young Gaius Octavian, the future Roman Emperor, was cowardly and weak. However, we know the message about how Octavian enters the area of a military camp to talk to rebel soldiers. In the camp, he could see the body of a murdered emissary who was also looking for a dialogue. Nevertheless, Oktavian did not give up the daring decision.
Faithful wife of Brutus
Porcia, the daughter of Cato the Younger, has gone to history as the second wife of Caesar’s murderer, Marcus Junius Brutus. He trusted his young wife so much that he even betrayed her the plans to kill the dictator. According to some historians, the Porcia could even be actively involved in the conspiracy. According to Plutarch, Porcia was to catch Brutus from attempting to consider what to do with Caesar.
Philosophical conference in Athens
In 94 BCE, Gellius Publicola – consul for 72 BCE stayed in Athens for business matters. There he was to propose to the representatives of various philosophical schools a conference during which they would, with his help, settle their disputes once and for all and be able to deal with more important matters. As you can easily guess, this proposal was not enthusiastically received.
