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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.
During the reign of Emperor Tiberius, in 27 CE, the greatest construction disaster in ancient Rome took place. In Fidenae (a town not far north of Rome) a wooden amphitheatre has collapsed. According to Suetonius, over 20,000 people died under the rubble; Tacitus gives the figure of 50,000 dead and maimed.
Emperor Nero became famous primarily for the first persecution of Christians during his reign. Including he used the burning flesh of Christians as candles at his feasts.
Aeneas became an extremely popular figure during the days of the first Roman emperors (that is, in the 1st century BCE – 1st century CE) which probably resulted from the fact that the Julius family, of which Caesar was a member, was also supposed to come from Aphrodite.
Donkey’s milk and ground snail shells were the best-selling lotions in Ancient Rome. The effective action of donkey’s milk is already mentioned by Hippocrates (460-370 BCE). Pliny the Elder, in turn, mentioned the healing properties of milk.
Alongside the gladiatorial fights, the Romans also loved chariot racing. The fans were divided into specific factions (factiones), depending on the colours. In Rome, four such fan clubs were classically distinguished: red (russata), green (prasina), white (albata) and blue (veneta).
The men weren’t the only ones who fought in the arenas of the Roman amphitheatres. The Romans trained arena fighting also women. They were the so-called gladiatrices, which were largely made up of volunteers. The Senate tried to minimize or forbid them to a minimum or forbid them from fighting in the arena. In 19 CE even the law Tabula Larinas was adopted, which stipulated that it was forbidden to recruit daughters, granddaughters and great-granddaughters of senators and equites to fight in the arena. The new law resulted from the fact that large numbers of women from well-to-do families joined the fight.
Left-handed Romans were considered unlucky and untrustworthy. It is worth adding that left-handed gladiators were considered a “special element” of the show.
In the ancient Greco-Roman world, fulling machines were involved in both the production and washing of fabrics. During the excavations at Pompeii destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE several great fulling workshops were discovered, and the best-preserved and located at the so-called Abundance Street belonged to a certain Stefanus.
The third wife of Emperor Claudius, Valeria Messalina, was a nymphomaniac. According to Roman historians, she once decided to compete with a professional prostitute. The women were to confirm who would be able to hold more lovers in one night. It is said that Messalina, who made love with 150 men, was to win.
