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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.
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.
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.
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.
Contemporary buildings in the city of Lucca that form an elliptical shape. The houses were built on the foundation of a Roman amphitheatre, perfectly showing the size of the ancient building.
In Cartagena (south-eastern Spain) there are remains of the Punic walls of Cartagena, which date back to the 3rd century BCE. Scientists have found traces of fire, which proves that a battle and probably looting really took place here.
Roman theater in Cartagena (southern Spain) was built in the late 1st century BCE. The facility is hidden among the modern buildings of the city.
Roman sandstone quarry in Cartagena (south of Spain), which was intensively used from the 3rd BCE until the middle of the 20th century. This place has the status of a historic site.
An earth and wooden Roman fortress – Castle Greg – dating back to the early 80s of the 1st century CE, built during the expedition of Julius Agricola (Gnaeus Julius Agricola).
Cramond Fort is the remains of one of the few stone Roman forts on the Antonine Wall. It is located in the north-western district of Edinburgh, near the Almond River, in close proximity to the Firth of Forth (North Sea).
After hearing the slogan “the farthest part of the Roman Empire”, most of us will probably think of wild Britain or Mesopotamia, conquered for a moment by Trajan. However, modern discoveries have shown that the truth may be different and very surprising. We are talking about a Roman garrison on inconspicuous Arabian islands – over 3,900 km from Rome itself.
