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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.
During the battle of Lake Trasimeno, a strong earthquake took place. As mentioned by Livy, the Romans and Carthaginians who were fighting at that time were so absorbed in the fight, that they did not even feel the trembling of the earth.
Roman marble figure of a togatus – man wearing a toga. Object dated back to 2nd century CE.
When Nero was a boy his favorite topic for conversations were chariot races in Circus; though he did so against the teacher’s prohibition. Once, Nero complained to another student that the driver of the Greens was dragged by a chariot on earth.
Roman theater mask, located in the Roman-Germanic Museum in Cologne (Germany).
Caligula was famous – according to ancient sources – for his unstable behavior. I.e. when during the games the crowd supported another team than the Emperor Caligula, he was supposed to say: “Would that the Roman people had but one neck”.
Reconstruction of a Roman mill used for the production of olive oil – known as trapetum. The machine consisted of a large bowl (mortarium), into which olives were falling, which then were crumpled by two half-round stones (orbes).
Nero often participated in the Olympic Games as a charioteer. During one of them he even carried a chariot drawn by ten horses. It did not matter to him that earlier he had criticized king Mithridates for exactly the same, claiming that just king wanted to show off. During the race, Nero dropped from the chariot and the servants had to help him get back to the platform.
Roman beautiful geometric mosaic-work from Ravenna (Italy). Object located in Mausoleum of Galla Placidia.
