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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.
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According to the original social rules in ancient Rome, it was the family of the victim who chose the type of punishment for the murderer. We do not have any written laws, in the set of XII tables, that govern the laws of a murderer.
Roman floor mosaic showing Medusa, a mythical monster who turned people to stone with her eyes. Object dated to the 1st century CE; discovered in Pompeii. The artifact is in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.
Roman ram with rider with bells attached to it. The object comes from Pompeii. The artifact is in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.
Emperor Octavian Augustus loved order in his country. For this purpose, he commissioned the construction of the so-called “golden milestone” (Milliarium Aureum) near the Temple of Saturn in the central part of the Roman Forum. Today’s researchers believe that the stone could have been a list of the most important cities of the Empire with the distance to them.
In ancient Rome, a rapist had his testicles crushed with two stones. In ancient Rome, rape – unless it was committed by the rulers – was punished severely. The victim was given a hammer and a stick, and with the help of these devices, it could beat his tormentor at will. The punishment for rape ended with particular cruelty at the hands of the executioner, who strangled the already beaten rapist with his own hands. Emperor Macrinus, for the rape of a maidservant by two soldiers, applied an unprecedented punishment to them: he ordered the criminals to be sewn into the ripped bellies of the bulls so that only their heads stick out.
Two researchers of ancient items believe they may have solved the mystery of why people living during the Roman Empire used “crooked” dice in their games. In their article published in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, Jelmer Eerkens and Alex de Voogt describe their research on bones.
Roman fresco showing a sexual act. Object dated to the 1st century CE; possibly found in Villa Arianna in Stabiae. The artifact is in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.
Period of civil wars of the 1st century BCE was a time of a great fratricidal struggle between the very citizens of Rome. As Marcus Favonius, Cato’s friend, noted: “Civil war was worse than the most illegal monarchy”1.
Roman relief with a phallus and the inscription “hic habitat felicitas”, meaning “happiness lives here”. The object was located above the entrance to the bakery in Pompeii. Artifact dated to the 1st century CE and is in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.
Roman camp (castrum Romanum) was characterized by excellent workmanship. It was built of wood, and the work force was legionnaires. It should be noted that the Romans were characterized by excellent building skills.
