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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.
In ancient Greece, women waxed the bikini line with tar in the shape of a triangle. Roman women depilated themselves in a semicircle, which was confirmed by the plaster casts of the victims of the eruption of Vesuvius in Pompeii in 79 CE.
Seneca the Younger, a Roman philosopher and writer from the 1st century CE, wrote a satire about Emperor Claudius in revenge for his exile to Corsica in 41 CE. He titled his work: “The Pumpkinification of (the Divine) Claudius” (Apocolocyntosis divi Claudii). Naturally, he wrote his work during the reign of Nero, after Claudius was murdered in 54 CE.
In 1726, a great tomb (columbarium) was discovered at via Appia, in which, as it turned out, the ashes of almost a thousand slaves and freedmen belonging to the first empress Livia were buried. In the tomb, there were also badges with names and professions written on them.
Form Urbis Romae also called (Form Urbis Severiana) is from the times of the Severan dynasty (193-235 CE) a map of ancient Rome. It is the only plan of this type preserved from antiquity.
Already ancient s had different opinions about Emperor Nero; some even gave some “positive” feedback. When asked by the flatterers, the philosopher Apollonius of Tyana replied, “I think of him better than you, for you think he should sing and mine should be silent”1.
Holy water is associated with the Christian faith. It is used in baptisms, blessing and expelling evil. Few, however, realize that the holy springs occurred in other religions, including the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Ancient Romans were often interested in anomalies in nature. Therefore, Octavian Augustus (63 BCE – 14 CE) received an armless person from India – a boy 60 cm tall. Such persons were held for entertainment (they were also shown in public).
Chinese were referred to by the ancient Romans as the Seres1. The Romans associated this people far east of the borders of the Empire primarily for the beautiful silk fabric, on which the Chinese held a monopoly. The Middle Kingdom for centuries had enormous profits from the sale of silk, which was very much in demand by the Roman aristocracy.
