Curiosities of ancient Rome (Unknown facts)

Cataloghi regionari, also called simply regionari, is a preserved document devoted to the development of Rome in the 4th century CE. Thanks to the document, we can find out how many and what kind of buildings could be found in the capital of the Empire.

In ancient Rome, there was an office of a public executioner (carnifex), which carried out the execution and supervised the torture of slaves and foreigners.

The oldest Praceltic name for a war chariot recorded among the Gauls by older ancient Greek authors is reda – a word with a very ancient Proto-Indo-European lineage- a similar one exists in the language of which the Protaindoarian Vedas were written. In the indigenous Iranian language the word riad, meaning driving, has been preserved.

A special role in inciting resistance against the Romans was played by the extraordinary authority of the supernatural “intellectual elite” of the Celts – a network of centres bringing together the Celtic priesthood, a huge confraternity of druids, extending on both sides of the English Channel and maintaining close communication with each other.

Romans, as a nation famous for their godly fear already in ancient times, tried to run the state as often as possible in accordance with the will of the gods read through the signs of omens. Quirites respected birds very much because it was from their flight that the future and divine intentions were foretold by means of auspices.

During the reign of Nero (54-68 CE), a plan appeared to dig a 257 km long water canal from Lake Avernus, near Puteoli (Pozzuoli), to the vicinity of Rome. The idea was to secure grain supplies to the capital, as ships often crashed in the final stretch between Puteoli and Rome. Established during the rule of Claudius (41-54 CE), the new port at the mouth of the Tiber meant that many ships were pushed back by storms onto the built embankments and fortifications.

Laudatio Iuliae amitae was a funeral speech given by Julius Caesar in 68 BCE in honour of his deceased aunt Julia (wife of Gaius Marius). The beginning of Caesar’s laudation (laudatio funebris) was preserved in the work of Suetonius, in which he praised the origin of the family.

Parricidia, was one of the most serious crimes in Roman criminal law. The term was used to refer to the killing of relatives.

The map showing the greatest territorial extent of the Roman Empire is well known, as is the history of the Roman legion in China. But how far south did the Romans travel on their African expeditions?