Cave canem!
The mosaics placed in front of the entrances to the houses of the rich Romans had inscriptions Cave canem! (“Beware of the dog”). These are the equivalents of the fence plates we meet today.
If you have found a spelling error, please, notify us by selecting that text and pressing Ctrl+Enter.
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.
Romans did surgery to remove kidney stone
Ancient Romans performed kidney stone surgery. This was described by Aulus Cornelius Celsus in his treatise “De medeicina”. He described there lithotripsy – crushing kidney and ureter stones.
Body cast of pig in Boscoreale
A plaster cast of the body of a pig that was one of the victims of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. The object was found at Villa Regina in Boscoreale (Pompeii area). Currently, the object is housed in a museum in Boscoreale.
Roman gold statuette of Faustina
Roman gold statuette probably of Faustina the Elder – wife of Emperor Antoninus Pius – who was deified after death. Object dated to the II century CE.
How to capture elephant?
Claudius Aelianus, a Roman writer, states that Indians had difficulty with catching an adult elephant. That’s why they went to the swamp and there they caught small baby elephants. The favorite place of staying elephants are boggy and wet areas, where the water is galore. As they prefer to spend time in such areas, you can call the elephant a swamp animal.
People are grasping baby elephants yet gentle and meek, then they take care of them, satisfing their appetites and care for their physical condition, they use caressing expressions (elephants understand the speech of the natives). In a word – they nurse them like children and nurture, while teaching various fields. And small elephants obey them.
Epicureans expelled from Rome
The Romans expelled Alcæus and Philiscus out of the City, because they taught the young men many dishonest pleasures.
