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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.

Roman folding knives

A knife is one of the oldest tools known to man. The invention of the Palaeolithic era helped to survive and later facilitated the life of the human species in conditions of settled existence. What about folding knives? Folders and pocket knives are used today, inter alia, in gardening, rescue, military, and tourism… The exchange could be long.

Bronze blade cover from Macedonian territory

Many diseases among poor

More than 90% of the population of Roman Empire came from the rural poor and it was barely making ends meet. The Roman historian Titus Livius mentions a centurion who in the 2nd century BCE. After inheriting a provincial house and one iugerum (about two-thirds of an acre) of land, he had to feed his wife and eight children.

Roman scuplture of couple

Knife handle with erotic elements

In 2008, David Barker found a bronze knife handle with erotic elements. The handle shows two men and a woman having a sexual act. This strange Roman specimen was found in Britain in Lincolnshire.

Knife handle with erotic elements

Fashion and jewelry in Rome developed strongly

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.

Roman gold jewelry found in Serbia

Fragment of wooden Roman barrel

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.

Fragment of wooden Roman barrel

Roman board game – Tabula Lusoria

Roman board gameTabula 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.

Tabula Lusoria

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