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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.
Pliny the Elder described in his “Natural History” that ostriches would bury their heads in a bush to hide from danger. This belief has persisted to this day as a popular myth, despite the lack of evidence for this behaviour in these birds. In reality, ostriches would place their heads low to the ground to hide, which may have given the impression that they were “burying it in the sand.”
Before watches and modern clocks, the ancient Romans used clepsydras, or water clocks, to measure the passage of time. This device worked by passing water from one container to another, usually through a small hole. As the water level fell (or rose), marked scales showed how much time had passed.
Baalbek is home to one of the most impressive quarries of antiquity, known primarily for its gigantic stone blocks, such as the “Pregnant Woman Stone” (Hajjar al-Hibla). The largest of these weighs about 1,000 tons and is one of the heaviest worked stones in the world. The Romans used similar blocks to build the monumental Temple of Jupiter at Baalbek, one of the largest temple complexes of the empire.
Corinth Channel, which today connects the Ionian Sea with the Aegean Sea, was a construction dream in ancient times. The Corinth Channel is strategically and economically important because it avoids swimming all of the Peloponnese. Moreover, in ancient times, swimming in the Peloponnese was difficult and dangerous due to difficult weather conditions and strong sea currents. According to ancient sources, the plans to build the channel were tried to realize the Romans, who reportedly during the reign of Emperor Nero (54-68 CE), attempted to dig it in 67 CE.
Roman oil lamp (lucerna) is an everyday item that was widely used in ancient Rome to illuminate homes, temples and other spaces. Made of clay, bronze, and sometimes marble, these lamps had a characteristic shape with a spout for the wick, which was immersed in olive oil – the main fuel for this type of lamp.
Although both the municipality and the Roman colony refer to forms of urban organization in ancient Rome, they differed significantly in terms of administrative structure, autonomy, and relations with central authority. Understanding these differences is crucial for a fuller comprehension of the functioning of the Roman legal and administrative system.
There is strong evidence that the ancient Greeks and Romans knew the world was a round globe before the rest of the world learned of it.
I don’t know about you, but I’m fascinated by discovering the continuity of the fate of the city and its individual parts. From the perspective of a short human existence, the evolution of urban space – its reconstructions, transformations and changes in functions – seems almost imperceptible. Sometimes it is only when we return to a place after many years that we say “what has changed here!” But when you look at the city from the perspective of hundreds of years, the changes the city is undergoing are much more visible.
Did you know that in ancient Rome, the most sought-after cosmetic was… the sweat of gladiators? Rich ladies, in jars containing the sweat of warriors, searched for charm believing it to be the secret to eternal youth and attractiveness.
