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People are curiosities dedicated to figures from the world of ancient Rome and antiquity. This category includes lesser-known facts, anecdotes, and interesting information about emperors, generals, politicians, thinkers, and other heroes of the Roman Empire, revealing a lesser-known side to them.
Densely populated Rome was a city under constant threat from fire. Tall, tightly packed residential buildings and the widespread use of fire in everyday life meant that fires ranked among the greatest dangers faced by the city’s inhabitants. Plutarch even describes how Marcus Licinius Crassus exploited these fires to increase his wealth, buying up burning or threatened buildings for next to nothing.
Without a doubt, the most notorious Roman poisoner was Lucusta, who operated at Nero’s court. However, she was not the only woman to engage in this dark occupation (or at least to be suspected of it). The eastern part of the empire could “boast” of Martina.
In 51 BCE, Marcus Tullius Cicero, Rome’s greatest orator and one of its leading intellectuals, was reluctant to travel east to assume the office of governor of Cilicia. For a man whose entire life revolved around the political intrigues of the Roman Forum, a year’s administration of a remote province in Asia Minor was tantamount to exile. He wanted to participate actively in the political life of the capital and had successfully avoided any governorship in previous years. This time, he couldn’t refuse.
In the transitional period between antiquity and the Middle Ages, when Christianity was consolidating its position as the state religion, events occurred that left a profound mark on the history of culture and science. One of the most renowned figures of this era was Hypatia – a philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer whose tragic death became a symbol of the changes sweeping through the world at that time.
“Lives” are one of the most fascinating works of antiquity. Its author, Plutarch of Chaeronea (ca. 46 – ca. 120 CE), compiles the profiles of famous Greeks and Romans. When describing these characters, he focuses mainly on their actions, character and anecdotes related to them. His work, however, is not devoid of very interesting digressions about the people and events of his contemporaries. One of them is an interesting mention of Emperor Domitian, whose reign was 81-96 CE. Although Plutarch writes his work several years after the emperor’s murder, he probably remembers the times of his reign and expresses his short opinion about this princeps.
Gaius Asinius Pollio (ca. 76 BCE – ca. 4 CE) was a Roman military officer, politician, supporter of Julius Caesar, and writer. Pollio’s greatest achievement was founding the first public library in Rome – the Atrium Libertatis (“Temple of Liberty”) in the Forum Romanum. Thanks to this building, works of Greek and Latin literature became more accessible. Pollio combined the library with an art gallery, making it a place with a multi-faceted cultural character. His actions initiated the tradition of creating public libraries in the empire.
Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus (ca. 228 – 160 BCE), an outstanding Roman commander and consul, made history thanks to his victory over Macedon at the Battle of Pydna in 168 BCE. He ended the Third Macedonian War and suppressed the power of Macedonia once and for all. His achievements were so important that he received the nickname Macedonicus, becoming a permanent part of the history of the empire.
Columella, or Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella, was a Roman agronomic writer who lived in the 1st century CE and is one of the most important authors of ancient texts on agriculture. His work De re rustica (On Agriculture), consisting of twelve books, is a comprehensive agricultural manual that describes all aspects of farm management – from growing plants, through animal husbandry, to methods of storing crops. Columella also wrote about the owner’s role on the farm, and his advice was addressed to both landowners and ordinary farmers. Columella’s work has survived and is still an important source of knowledge about ancient agriculture and man’s relationship to the land.
Plutarch of Chaeronea, who lived at the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, is one of the most famous writers, historians and philosophers of ancient Greece. His famous “Parallel Lives” is a collection of biographies that compare famous Greek and Roman figures – Alexander the Great with Julius Caesar or Demosthenes with Cicero. Plutarch created these biographies to highlight character traits, emphasizing their virtues and weaknesses. At a time when Rome dominated culture, his works were intended to combine Greek and Roman values, while creating inspiration for future generations.
Quintus Sulpicius Maximus is an extraordinary figure from ancient Rome whose story is both inspiring and tragic. In 94 CE a young boy, only eleven years old, amazed Rome with his enormous knowledge and poetic talent, taking part in a prestigious literary competition organized by the emperor Domitian himself (reigned 81-96 CE). His interesting works, written in Greek, were full of maturity and beauty, which aroused admiration even among the most important intellectuals of the time.
