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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.
Emperor Caligula (reigned 37-41 CE) went down in history as one of the worst rulers of the Roman Empire. Many stories about him arose in the works of writers who came from senatorial circles. Among other things, Suetonius describes that Caligula himself allegedly participated in gladiator fights.
Atia the Elder, niece of Julius Caesar and mother of Gaius Octavian and Octavia was one of the most expressive female characters in the television series “Rome”. In the series, she was shown as an amoral manipulator who allows herself to play with the feelings and matchmaker of her family members to achieve political goals. Do historical sources confirm this?
The ruins of the villa of the Quintilii on Via Appia – monumental walls are seen by every tourist who takes a long walk along the most famous Roman road: Via Appia.
31 meters long Roman barge from the 1st century CE was fished in 2011 from the Rhône River in Arles (France). After two thousand years spent in the mud, its condition is intact.
Dacians and Getae were related barbarian tribes that had rivalled the Romans many times throughout history. They inhabited the territory of present-day Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Moldova, Slovakia and even Ukraine. Their greatest advantage was sudden raids on Roman territories, which used the element of surprise, including extremely effective cavalry.
In ancient Rome, the brutal, violent death of the ruler was inscribed in the logic of power to such an extent that today it is often said that the profession of “emperor” was the most dangerous profession in the world. Of the twelve emperors who died in the first century CE, only four died naturally. Murder as a way to change power was so obvious that natural death always aroused suspicion and was a source of conjecture as to whether no one had contributed to it.
Roman sculpture showing Octavian Augustus. The object is dated to the 2nd century CE. According to the researchers, the object actually depicted a young man, but it was later adopted to represent the first emperor of Rome. The artifact is in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.
