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The world of the ancient Romans was rich in extraordinary, and sometimes even surprising, facts. We draw our knowledge of Roman daily life, customs, and mentality primarily from works left by ancient writers and historians. It is thanks to them that we discover information that is astonishing today – sometimes even hard to believe. Below are some interesting facts that reveal a lesser-known and less obvious side of the Roman world.
I encourage you to submit your own suggestions and to report any corrections or inaccuracies.
There is a view that Roman civilization is a continuation of Etruscan civilization1. From this view, and from the history of the lagotto romagnolo breed2, it can be concluded that the ancestors of today’s truffle hunters already accompanied the ancient Romans.
One of the founding myths of the Romanian nation is its direct descent from those conquered by the Romans in the 1st century CE Dacians. To what extent is this true? An alternative theory is the origin of the Vlachs, the ancestors of the Romanians, from Romanian-speaking communities from the areas of today’s Albania, who fled from the Turkish threat to the north, to the Carpathians (participating in the ethnogenesis of our Boykos, Lemkos and Hutsuls) and to the Danube lowlands – let linguists and geneticists decide. The fact is that to this day, only in Romania can parents name their children Decebalus, Hadrian, Trajan or Ovid (the famous poet is buried in Constanta on the Black Sea).
Certainly many of us celebrate the last day of the year, called New Year’s Eve. But how many people know exactly where this name actually comes from?
Agrippina the Younger became famous, among others, as Nero’s mother. She was the daughter of Germanicus – an outstanding Roman leader and Agrippina the Elder. She was born around 16 CE in a city located on the Rhine. Her husband, whom she married at the age of 13, was Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus.
Roman decoration in the shape of a black man, made of bronze. The object is on display in a museum in Herculaneum (Italy).
Roman fresco showing a half-naked woman. Object discovered in the 1st century CE, in Pompeii. The artifact is located in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.
Relief showing a vegetable seller (including cabbage, garlic and asparagus) from Ostia. Roman relief dates back to the 2nd century CE. The artifact is in the Archaeological Museum in Ostia (Italy).
Further interesting discoveries are being made in the Rhineland (western Germany), which is rich in brown coal. In ancient times, the borders of the Roman Empire reached here. Roman cities included: Cologne, Aachen, Bonn and Jülich.
Pompeian fresco depicting Theseus after killing the Minotaur. The fresco is not large. In the past, it was the central panel of a larger painting. It was like a painting hung in the middle of the wall and the attention of the person entering the room was supposed to focus on it.
Mars, god of war, and Nike, goddess of victory, on a Roman gemma. The artifact is located in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.
