Vicus Caprarius
When you walk around Rome, do you wonder what is hidden under your feet? Aren’t you curious how much of the ancient capital of the Empire has been preserved in its medieval Renaissance and Baroque walls?
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Curiosities of ancient Rome (Places)
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.
Aerial photo showing Roman road in Jordan
An aerial photo showing the Roman road in Jordan – Via Nova Traiana. The road was built during the reign of Emperor Trajan (reigned 98-117 CE) in the province of Arabia Petraea and stretched from the city of Aqaba (present-day Jordan) to Bostra (present-day Syria).
Villa romana de Las Torres
In the south of Spain, in Estepona, there are the remains of a small Roman resort – Villa romana de Las Torres – located on the coast, right next to the Torre Guadalmansa lighthouse, from late medieval times.
Quarters of Roman slaves near Pompeii
In August 2023, near Pompeii, in the villa Civita Giuliana, the remains of a slave quarter were discovered. As it turns out, slaves lived in extremely simple conditions, along with rodents.
Perge – pearl of Roman East
In December 2019, I was in Turkey, where I had the opportunity to visit the ruins of cities from the Roman period. Today I will share with you my impressions from visiting one of them: Perge.
Roman amphitheater in Pompeii
Roman amphitheater in Pompeii was built in 70 BCE and is the oldest object of this type that has survived to our times. Characteristic, externally located stairs led to the upper stands. The amphitheater was originally wooden; later, however, a stone structure was built. The object measures 135 by 104 meters.
Empress Livia’s white hens
Ad Gallinas Albas: Few people know this name today, but two thousand years ago things were different. Known under it was a town nowadays called Prima Porta – near Rome, on Via Flaminia.
Underground of ancient Neapolis
Contemporary Naples is a city where ancient monuments are much more difficult to find than in Rome, but that does not mean that they are not there. After all, it is a city as old as Rome. Founded by Greek colonists, the settlement already had an urban character when Rome was still a small village.
Agrippa’s villa on Tiber
In 1880, during the construction of the Tiber embankments near Villa Farnesina in Trastevere, a very interesting discovery was made: large fragments of a luxurious residence from the reign of Emperor Augustus were excavated. It is a fascinating building: breaking with the typical architectural layout of the Roman “domus” (and with its canonical sequence of rooms: vestibule-atrium-tablinum-peristyle), reminiscent of the more refined suburban villas of Roman patricians. Its location on the very bank of the Tiber must have been captivating.
Emperor Augustus’ workshop
I am always fascinated by the possibility of “touching” the elements of reality that 2000 years ago accompanied the heroes of my novels. The Roman historian Suetonius writes about Octavian Augustus: “If ever he planned to do anything in private or without interruption, he had a retired place at the top of the house, which he called “Syracuse” and “technyphion”1.
