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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.
Polybius in “Histories” describes the figure of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the son of King Antiochus III the Great, who, after the defeat of the Seleucid monarchy in the war with Rome in 188 BCE, had to live in Rome as a hostage for over ten years. When his brother Seleucus IV Philopator died, the hostages were changed and Antiochus IV was to take the Syrian throne, and Seleucus’ son would go to Rome.
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.
Before, during and after the conquest/subjugation of new territories, the Roman state always tried to find local elites who were ready to cooperate with the Romans.
Roman Empire was a country extremely open to internal migration; additionally, it relocated troops (especially auxiliary troops) to areas far from their homeland. This is evidenced by the preserved, inter alia, tombstones of soldiers and people associated with the military stationed near Hadrian’s Wall.
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.
In 60 CE, during the reign of Emperor Nero, the commander of the Roman army – Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo besieged the Armenian capital of Tigranocerta.
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 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.
Nero kept fit the entire senatorial body. In 59 CE in the gardens of his palace, he organized an amazing gymnastic and artistic competition – Ludi Iuvenales – for senators and equites, which shocked the conservatives. Mostly young aristocrats (the so-called Augustiani) took part.
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.
