Curiosities of ancient Rome (Unknown facts)

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.

Octavian Augustus was to organize the so-called feast of the twelve gods, i.e. a feast where each guest was dressed as a deity. The emperor chose the figure of Apollo for himself. The people of Rome did not like it for two reasons – such games were considered to arouse the wrath of God, and second – there was a great famine in the city at the time. People even said that “the gods had eaten all the grain”.

Emperor Nero was famous for his licentiousness and love of luxury. One of his ideas was to commission the construction of the famous “Golden House” (the so-called Domus Aurea). This investment was met with huge objections and unpopularity from the Romans, mainly due to the high costs associated with, among others, the shocking splendour of the decor. Due to this state of affairs, the project was probably never completed.

The marriage of Livia and Augustus was no different from the other Roman marriages. Livia was an exemplary wife who loved her husband; certainly faithful, which, moreover, is consistent with her impeccable upbringing.

Roman sources say that during the Second Punic War, when the Romans besieged Carthage, part of the Carthaginian ships broke the sea blockade of the Romans and sailed towards the Pillars of Heracles. They were never seen again after that. Following them, the Romans sent seven ships of Scipio Aemilianus and the geographer Polybius.

The skin of Octavian Augustus was said to have many birthmarks; Suetonius even claims that they were arranged on the back and belly in the constellation of Ursa Major. In addition, Emperor August was terrified of storms and lightning.

When in 71 BCE Spartacus, together with the army of slaves, found himself at the very end of the Apennine Peninsula, he tried at all costs to organize transport and transport his army to Sicily to continue the resistance against Rome.

When in 72 BCE the insurgent army of Spartacus’ slaves marched north through Italy, towards the Alps, the insurgent forces split up. Gauls and Germans, under the command of a certain Crixus, went ahead to plunder Apulia (eastern, central Italy) freely. However, Crixus’ army was defeated by the Roman army and he himself was killed; 20,000 insurgents were to die. It was the first major victory of the Romans in the fight against the slaves of Spartacus.