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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.
Lucius Licinius Lucullus (117 – 56 BCE), is a somewhat forgotten figure. He lived in interesting times, which is why many mentions of him have been preserved by various authors. A great commander, and at the same time a person who was unable to win over the soldiers. This is how Cassius Dio characterized him in his “Roman history”:
An interesting inscription from Philippi (Greece) has been preserved to our times, describing the life and military service of a certain Decimus Furius Octavius Secundus. He was a Roman soldier in the first half of the 2nd century CE. The artefact perfectly shows us what a career in the Roman army was like.
The later dictator of the Roman republic, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, also known as Felix because of his allegedly favourable fortune throughout his life, could start a political career thanks to his acquaintance with a person through whom his contemporary political career could rather collapse completely.
Murder of Commodus at the end of 192 CE it ended the reign of the Antonine dynasty and certainly the best period of the existence of the Roman empire. He was succeeded by Pertynax, a respected senator and efficient leader of Marcus Aurelius, chosen by the conspirators. Unfortunately, however, the financial and internal discipline that Pertinax tried to impose in Rome led to his murder by the praetorians in March 193 CE.
Gaius Petronius called Arbiter, who is credited with the authorship of the anonymously published novel Satyricon, gained a great influence on Emperor Nero, bored with the stoic Seneca. For the emperor, fascinated with Greek culture and who considered himself an artist, and his mannered court, he became an oracle in matters of good taste and artistic values.
The greatest poet in Rome was Publius Virgil Maro. To this day, however, the erroneous form Virgil is also used, which first appeared in the 5th century CE. It resulted from the intrusive use of the letter “i” in many languages.
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.
Gaius Pescennius Niger appeared in the pages of history in extremely interesting and difficult times for Imperium Romanum. After the murder of Emperor Commodus and the short and at the same time tragic reign of Pertinax, the entire state plunged into a civil war that lasted until 197 CE.
In the work Factorum et dictorum memorabilium libri novem by Valerius Maximus, we can see the characters and behaviours that the author distinguished in the context of decency and dignified life.
