Curiosities of ancient Rome (Unknown facts)

Alcoholism is not only a social problem of modern times. Already Lucretius, a Roman poet from the 1st century BCE, mentions alcoholism as a plague affecting the then elites among others, famous writers of the 1st century CE Seneca the Younger or Pliny the Elder prove the existence of a real social problem.

According to Suetonius, during one of the feasts in Nero’s “Golden House”, one of the guests suffocated after the hall was flooded with huge amounts of rose petals.

The ruins of Pompeii with the section (regiones V) visible that has not yet been excavated. There are still undiscovered places in the Pompeii Archaeological Park before archaeologists. These are mainly districts (regiones): V, IV, IX, III and part of I. The main problem, as always, is not enough money.

After the ancient city of Pompeii was destroyed and covered with a huge amount of pyroclastic material from Vesuvius in 79 CE, the reigning emperor Titus Flavius ​​immediately decided to support the surviving inhabitants.

Almost all private Roman houses in Herculaneum and Pompeii had toilets. They were usually in the kitchens or under the stairs (Herculaneum Casa del Gran Portale house). Such solitary confinement rooms often had no doors, which would be unthinkable these days.

The so-called “golden period of the empire” consisted of the rule of the emperors: Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius (96-180 CE). At that time, the choice of the ruler was made by designating the person considered the most worthy and suitable, and it was possible due to the lack of direct heirs.

It is said that the ancient Greeks and Romans practised the deadlift (deadlift). Lifting a weight from the ground is the oldest “utility” movement and has been proven to be the most powerful for centuries. Heavy stones were grabbed and lifted off the ground.

Pompeii is one of the most amazing archaeological discoveries in the history of mankind. A well-preserved ancient city, with the remains of people who did not manage to beat the destructive power of Vesuvius in 79 CE. However, what gives us the most information about the life of those times are the preserved artefacts and buildings.

In 494 BCE there was a so-called first plebeian secession, which was a rebellion against the patrician rule in Rome. To convince the crowd to stop the rebellion, the ruling class sent a special emissary. It was a certain Menenius Agrippa – consul for 503 BCE – who was friendly with the masses.

Roman bankers appeared in the 3rd century BCE. Initially, they were called trapezitai in Greek, but then the Latin name argentarii came into use.