If you have found a spelling error, please, notify us by selecting that text and pressing Ctrl+Enter.
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.
The Roman politician Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix, also known as Sulla, lived from 138-78 BCE. In the history of Rome, he went down as one of the most controversial figures of the Roman Republic. As an efficient military and politician, he is known for the first Roman civil war and the adoption of the office of dictator (82 BCE) for life. He was cruel in getting rid of political opponents. A certain goddess of war, Bellona, played a large role in Sulla’s enormous career.
In 133 BCE, Attalus III died on the throne of the Kingdom of Pergamum (the western part of present-day Turkey). In his will, he handed over his country to Roman rule. As the Romans were very slow in securing their rights, a certain Aristonicus raised a rebellion against the decision of the former king.
Tertullian was a well-educated Roman orator and jurist who lived in North Africa at the turn of the 2nd/3rd century CE. In about 190 CE he was baptized and became a zealous supporter and defender of Christianity. He founded his own Tertullian sect, which preached moral rigour and forbade escape from persecution; it mandated fasts that other Christians did not practice.
Roman Empire was lucky to have unusual female characters. And although not all of them became empresses, they were often remembered by History. This was the case with caesar Titus, son of Vespasian, a descendant of the Flavian family. Officially, his wives were Arrecina Tertulla and Marcia Furnilla. One of them was the mother of his only daughter, Julia.
Crates of Mallos, the Greek Stoic philosopher and grammarian of the ruler of Pergamon, is known as the creator of the first globe (c. 150 BCE) – a spherical model of the Earth. His globe differs from the modern ones for a simple reason – in his time people did not know as much about all the continents as they do today.
Seneca the Younger, a Roman philosopher and writer from the 1st century CE, mentions in his letters Calvisius Sabinus – a wealthy and respected Roman who had such a bad memory that he couldn’t even remember the names of Homeric heroes.
In ancient Rome, the brutal, violent death of the ruler was inscribed in the logic of power to such an extent that today it is often said that the profession of “emperor” was the most dangerous profession in the world. Of the twelve emperors who died in the first century CE, only four died naturally. Murder as a way to change power was so obvious that natural death always aroused suspicion and was a source of conjecture as to whether no one had contributed to it.
Calgacus was the first Caledonian (inhabitant of present-day Scotland) mentioned in Roman sources. Tacitus describes him as the leader of the Caledons, a man of self-respect and an excellent orator. He had red hair and a powerful build. His name in the Celtic language meant “having a sword”.
Attila – the leader of Huns, one of the most important figures in the history of the late-antique world. Together with his brother Bleda, he inherited power from his uncle – Ruas. In the year 445 CE killed his brother while hunting, allegedly mistaking him for a bear. He then became the independent ruler of the Hunnic Empire. In the 40s of the 5th century, the Eastern Roman Empire paid Attila several thousand pounds of gold of various kinds of tribute and tribute.
