Curiosities of ancient Rome (Unknown facts)

The ancient Romans had no problems presenting the love aspects of social life in public. To this day, there are many mosaics depicting acts of love.

As Michael Grant writes, ancient Roman sources are unclear and difficult to interpret unequivocally. Ancient rites were recorded in holiday calendars. What we have learned of this contains some material that goes back to the time of the Roman kings. Such religious events – the completion of annual religious rites – initially had the best chance of being remembered by the Romans.

Ancient Romans rather despised beggars and believed that they were closer to slaves than to fellow citizens. If someone was supported, it was only for political gains.

Average water consumption per capita of ancient Rome ranged from 370 to 450 litres of water per day. In order to meet the needs, the city had to have adequate supplies.

The Capitoline and Albanian Agon were competitions, first of all, poetry. The very word agon translated from the Greek (ἀγών) means competition, competition. Their tradition referred to Greek culture and the local sports and literary competitions.

The 1st-century Roman historian, Pliny the Elder and Claudius Aelianus, a 2nd-century writer, describe that one of the best defences against elephants was pigs. Their smell made the animals panic.

Gauls were Rome’s great northern enemies many years before Gaul was conquered by Julius Caesar. In the 4th century BCE, they conquered and plundered Rome, which was a trauma and a humiliation for the Romans. Titus Livy mentions another tragedy of Rome that was almost unnoticed.

Vegetation and love of greenery were known to ancient peoples, especially the Greeks and Romans. The Romans, as a typically agricultural people, referred to nature and appreciated the presence of plants in their surroundings.

Clivus Capitolinus (“Capitoline Ascension”) road was the main road to the Roman Capitol. The road continued Via Sacra and stretched from the Forum Romanum to the Temple of Jupiter the Greatest. Clivus Capitolinus was the last and most important leg of the Roman triumphal route. It is worth mentioning that this road was one of the oldest in Rome.

In antiquity, salt, resin, honey and mouse droppings were considered abortives. At the Queen’s court, Cleopatra VII also used extracts of white poplar, juniper berries and fennel. Interestingly, modern medicine has confirmed the strong contraceptive properties of these plants.