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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.
In ancient Rome, fashion developed more than in Greece. The same was true of jewellery. Precious stones were very popular with the ladies; the most popular were emeralds. A big surprise for modern women may be the fact that diamonds appeared in these areas for the first time. In addition, stones such as agate, garnet, yarrow, and aquamarine were used to make jewellery.
The greatest poet in Rome was Publius Virgil Maro. To this day, however, the erroneous form Virgil is also used, which first appeared in the 5th century CE. It resulted from the intrusive use of the letter “i” in many languages.
Fragment of a wooden Roman barrel found in Oberaden in western Germany, on the site of a former legionary camp. The object is dated to the 1st century CE. Wine was transported in the barrel, which was intended for the soldiers in the camp. Scientists, apart from traces of wine, found traces of pepper that came from distant India.
Stone axe blade from antiquity (the so-called Keraunia or “thunder stone”). The object is dated to the 2nd-3rd century CE.
Roman board game – Tabula Lusoria. The name Tabula Lusoria is more of a broad term and in Latin, it means more or less the same as “playing field”. The game is designed for two players and consists of a special, rosette board with eight fields arranged in a circle with one central field connected to each field on the circle (see the picture) and two sets of pieces in two colours, three in each.
Cup from Emona. A glass cup was discovered in one of the graves in a cemetery near the Roman castrum (now Ljubljana, Slovenia). It was made of glass in the millefiori technique (an Italian term meaning a thousand flowers). It is a method of obtaining multi-coloured glass, which consists in combining glass paste (in the form of tubes) into decorative patterns, cutting it into slices and then melting it into the surface of the vessel.
Quintus Cecilius Metellus Numidian, leader of the optimates and opponent of Gaius Marius, was considered an energetic man, with an impeccable reputation. In 102 BCE he held the office of censor. During his tenure in office, he strove to increase the number of births in Roman society.
In Roman historiography, there were not many events that could be described as rebellions of the population against the local elite or the emperor, in connection with, for example, problems with food supplies. This does not mean, however, that the rulers or aristocracy could remain indifferent to the voice of the people.
We are all well aware that an effective politician is one who has very good contact with the voter. However, there are behaviours that can effectively discourage a citizen from voting for a given politician. A great example of this is the story of the conversation between the Roman politician Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica and a random Roman citizen.
