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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.
Ancient Romans were often interested in anomalies in nature. Therefore, Octavian Augustus (63 BCE – 14 CE) received an armless person from India – a boy 60 cm tall. Such persons were held for entertainment (they were also shown in public).
They say you need three things to fight a war: money, money, and more money. Regardless of whether or not we accept this sentence as true, money undoubtedly helps in war. Of course, it was no different in ancient times. In ancient Rome, troops were paid primarily with silver denarii, sometimes, in exceptional circumstances, and also with gold coins, i.e. aureus.
Chinese were referred to by the ancient Romans as the Seres1. The Romans associated this people far east of the borders of the Empire primarily for the beautiful silk fabric, on which the Chinese held a monopoly. The Middle Kingdom for centuries had enormous profits from the sale of silk, which was very much in demand by the Roman aristocracy.
Ancient Romans knew that if a society was to be economically viable, it had to be well fed. Therefore, there was a social welfare system that guaranteed the distribution or sale of grain at reduced prices (the so-called frumentationes).
The geographical knowledge of the ancient Greeks was truly impressive. Already in antiquity, prominent Greek minds held the theory of the spherical Earth as true. Moreover, numerous expeditions of discovery and information were collected, which led to the development of geography as a science.
Hanno was a high Carthaginian admiral who lived in the 6th or 5th centuries BCE and who commanded a sea expedition that passed through the “Pillars of Heracles” (Strait of Gibraltar) and sailed along the coast of West Africa. We know about the expedition thanks to two copies of periplus1, preserved in Greek.
The philosopher Seneca the Younger was one of those Romans who condemned public executions and lamented the influence they had had. they are on viewers. Ironically, it was his pupil, Nero, who became famous for his immoderate cruelty, which also manifested itself in his practice of throwing Christians to lions to eat.
