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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.
Have you ever wondered when marking dates according to the time that has passed since the death of Jesus appeared? As it turns out, the matter is not as obvious as it might seem. It turns out that for a long time, several systems competed with each other and at first it was not at all certain that it was the date of Christ’s birth that would become the determinant for marking dates.
Roman fresco showing Amor riding a crab. Object discovered in the House of the Vettii in Pompeii.
Hyena on a Roman mosaic. Object dated to the 2nd century CE; discovered in Tunisia.
In 1880, during the construction of the Tiber embankments near Villa Farnesina in Trastevere, a very interesting discovery was made: large fragments of a luxurious residence from the reign of Emperor Augustus were excavated. It is a fascinating building: breaking with the typical architectural layout of the Roman “domus” (and with its canonical sequence of rooms: vestibule-atrium-tablinum-peristyle), reminiscent of the more refined suburban villas of Roman patricians. Its location on the very bank of the Tiber must have been captivating.
Portrait of an ancient woman. The painting was found in a cemetery in the Fayoum oasis (most of it was found in the necropolis in Hawara) and is one of many of this type found in this place. The object is in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest (Hungary).
I am always fascinated by the possibility of “touching” the elements of reality that 2000 years ago accompanied the heroes of my novels. The Roman historian Suetonius writes about Octavian Augustus: “If ever he planned to do anything in private or without interruption, he had a retired place at the top of the house, which he called “Syracuse” and “technyphion”1.
What did homosexual practices look like in ancient Rome? What were their social and cultural contexts? Did gay men from lower classes have any opportunities to fulfill their desires?
Head of the emperor Octavian Augustus, made of black glass with a turquoise-green coating. Object dated to the 1st century CE; has a height of about 4.7 cm.
Roman mosaic showing marine life; object dated to the beginning of the 1st century BCE. The artifact was discovered in the garden of San Lorenzo in Rome. Currently stored in Centrale Montemartini.
Relief from the Roman sarcophagus showing the scene of Amores’ racing in the circus. Object dated to the mid-2nd century CE. The artifact is in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.
