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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.

Cramond Fort

Cramond Fort is the remains of one of the few stone Roman forts on the Antonine Wall. It is located in the north-western district of Edinburgh, near the Almond River, in close proximity to the Firth of Forth (North Sea).

Stable foundations at Cramond Fort

Roman bust dated to period of Julio-Claudian dynasty

Roman bust dated to the period of the Julio-Claudian dynasty (27 BCE – 68 CE). The object is made of marble and shows a middle-aged man, perhaps even Sextus Pompey, son of Pompey the Great and rival of Octavian Augustus and Mark Antony during the civil war.

Roman bust dated to period of Julio-Claudian dynasty

Syncretism of Christianity

One of the tendencies existing in early Christianity, which was difficult to resist, was syncretism. It manifested itself in the desire to inscribe the new faith into the general cultural context of the epoch. Thanks to this, Christianity had a chance for dissemination, because people absorbed new ideas much easier when they were shown the connection with those they had been professing so far.

Early Christian fresco depicting the Christogram

Roman mosaic showing boxer and rooster

Part of a Roman wall mosaic showing a boxer on a podium. The man has antique gloves (caestus) on his hands. Below it is a panel depicting a rooster approaching a shelf with a pine cone and a fig. The object was discovered in one of the ancient cities destroyed by Vesuvius in 79 CE. The artifact is in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.

Roman mosaic showing boxer and rooster

Caesar disregarded Senate

When members of the Roman Senate came to Julius Caesar to inform him of the award of special distinctions, he did not get up at the sight of them, as was customary, and did not show respect to the esteemed body. This behaviour of Caesar was one of the main reasons for the decision to assassinate the dictator.

Portrait of Julius Caesar, Mark James Miller

History of duel of Marcus Valerius Corvus

Titus Livius mentions an interesting clash. In 349 BCE Roman Republic was still conducting numerous wars with its neighbours, aimed at gaining dominance in Italy. There were also fights with the Gauls – from the beginning of the 4th century, the deadly enemies of Roma. When the Romans were encamped near the Pontic marshes, columns of Gauls were about to approach them.

Raven

Impressive Roman sculpture showing Hercules

Impressive Roman sculpture showing Hercules at rest. It is a copy, dated to the 2nd-3rd century CE, of a Greek original from the 4th century BCE. The artifact is in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.

Impressive Roman sculpture showing Hercules

Roman locks

Roman locks that were discovered in cities destroyed by Vesuvius in 79 CE. The objects are made of bronze and date back to the 1st century CE. The artifacts are in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.

Roman locks

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