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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.

Vibia Perpetua – Christian martyr

Vibia Perpetua lived at the turn of the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. She came from a wealthy Roman home, and her parents professed various faiths: her father was a pagan, and her mother was a Christian. Vibia went down in history as a Christian martyr from Carthage.

Vibia Perpetua with her son

Silk was popular in Rome

During the reign of Octavian Augustus (27 BCE – 14 CE), silk was an extremely popular material. Gaius Petronius refers to him as ventus textilis (“woven wind”). However, this product was extremely expensive and it was difficult to get it because it was produced in distant China, a country that guarded its monopoly.

Roman fresco showing person in silk

Elephants in Roman army?

Romans rarely used elephants in battle. Several pieces captured on Pyrrhus were present at the triumph of Manius Curius Dentatus in Rome in 275 BCE. However, it is not known what happened to these animals later. Perhaps they shared the fate of about 140 elephants captured by Lucius Metellus Pontyfex in Sicily in the battles with the Carthaginians, who died in the arena after the triumph of the victorious leader. As you can see, the chiefs of the city on the Tiber did not initially appreciate the value of these animals. At the turn of the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE

Roman elephant

Roman marble bust showing bearded man

Roman marble bust showing a bearded man. The Roman is wearing a military coat that has been thrown over his bare chest. The artifact is on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Roman marble bust showing bearded man

Husband and wife in ancient pose

Roman fresco on which (probably) the husband and wife sit side by side in the banquet hall (triclinium). The man is shown as a naked, muscular hero, and the woman as an exemplary housewife, pondering. This is a typical depiction of people in antiquity. The object is dated to the 1st century BCE; discovered in the villa of P. Fannius Synistor in Boscoreale (Italia). The artifact is on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Husband and wife in ancient pose

Mother of Gracchii

Valerius Maximus, a Roman writer from the 1st century CE, author of a collection of anecdotes in 9 books about famous deeds and sayings Factorum et dictorum memorabilium libri novem mentions one interesting anecdote from his life Cornelia, mother of the famous Gracchi brothers. Well, one day she hosted a patrician who flaunted her rich jewellery at every step.

Gracchi brothers

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