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Unknown Facts are curiosities revealing little-known, surprising, or rarely discussed information from the world of ancient Rome and antiquity. This category includes unusual details, curiosities, and facts that offer a less obvious perspective on the Roman Empire.
The capital of the Roman Empire in 14 CE had over 750,000 inhabitants, which constituted a tenth of the entire population of Italy. The population of Rome grew to over a million by the end of the 2nd century CE. This number was achieved by western cities only in the 19th century.
The Roman teaching system was largely based on the education of the Greeks. Hence, the teachers of Roman children were most often Greek slaves or freedmen. An example of a Greek who achieved much in Roman education was Livius Andronicus (c. 284 – c. 204 BCE). In 272 BCE in Tarentum, he was taken prisoner and, along with other prisoners of war, was brought to Rome.
The letter Y was not originally in Romans. Y was added to the Latin alphabet around the 1st century BCE to render Greek words better.
Romans were very superstitious. They believed in many things that they could not logically explain. For example, the old superstition was known – kissing a female mule in the nostrils cured hiccups and a runny nose. It was also believed that some people were capable of hurting others just by looking at them. Such superstition was called the “evil eye”.
Ancient Romans used a spider’s web to stop bleeding, incl. for cracked skulls and cuts after shaving. Although the Romans did not know much about viral and bacterial infections, by trial and error they concluded that the spider’s web is very beneficial for wound healing.
The ancient Romans and Greeks did not use stirrups that first appeared in China. The oldest image is from 322 CE.
Seneca the Younger, living in the 1st century CE, the famous Roman Stoic, called the Philosopher, eulogist of heroic ethics, in his life, contrary to appearances, was not guided by beautiful beliefs. He was the tutor of Emperor Nero, at the beginning of his reign he had considerable influence at the court, which he scrupulously used.
We all remember from elementary school the ending of the novel “Quo Vadis?” H. Sienkiewicz, in which he recorded the end of the life of Emperor Nero, based on the account of the ancient historian Suetonius:
