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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.
Preserved Roman plaque with an inscription commemorating the deceased, on which the words known to us are placed: “may the earth rest lightly on you”. Written on a stone in Latin: “Sit tibi terra levis”. The object is located in the National Museum of Roman Art in Merida (Spain).
An interesting inscription from Philippi (Greece) has been preserved to our times, describing the life and military service of a certain Decimus Furius Octavius Secundus. He was a Roman soldier in the first half of the 2nd century CE. The artefact perfectly shows us what a career in the Roman army was like.
Marble bust of a man, possibly over the age of 40. Object dated to the 1st century CE; currently on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Pliny the Younger began his clerk career under Emperor Domitian, but withdrew from public life, discouraged by the universal terror. He returned to politics under Emperor Trajan, who trusted him and entrusted him with the governorship of the province of Bithynia and Pontus in 109 CE. At that time, he proposed to the ruler an extremely ambitious and interesting project – the construction of a navigable canal for Nicomedia, which would bypass the Bosphorus. It was also planned to build a series of aqueducts.
Strabo, a Greek geographer and historian from the 1st century BCE in his work Geography mentions the people of Cantabria with whom Rome was at war in the years 29-19 BCE They were finally defeated only in 19 BCE by the troops of Marcus Agrippa. The war was the last phase of the Roman conquest of Spain.
The later dictator of the Roman republic, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, also known as Felix because of his allegedly favourable fortune throughout his life, could start a political career thanks to his acquaintance with a person through whom his contemporary political career could rather collapse completely.
Beautifully preserved Roman marble relief that dates back to the 1st century CE. This type of decoration was often found in private gardens of Roman houses. The stone shows Menada, the worshiper of Dionysus (Bacchus) and Silenus, the god of nature, who also accompanied the god of wine and fun. The object was discovered in Pompeii and is now on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Roman gold ring with engraved parrot in green chalcedony. Scientists believe that the parrot belongs to the species rose-ringed parakeet – a bird that occurs, among others in India and which Alexander the Great had a chance to see. The object is dated to the 1st century CE.
