Curiosities of ancient Rome (Unknown facts)

On the occasion of the ongoing Olympic Games, it is worth mentioning that the plant that is directly associated with the everyday life of ancient Romans is the noble laurel (Laurus nobilis). The image of the winner of the Olympics is a figure of a man with a proudly raised head, on which there is a laurel wreath, decorated with laurel leaves. What if our image was not true and instead of the characteristic lanceolate leaves we would see pinnate oak leaves adorning his temple?

William Shakespeare, the famous English playwright, known to schoolchildren mainly as the creator of Hamlet and Macbeth, wrote many plays about the lives of historical figures, mainly of the old English kings. Among his works, however, there are also some directly related to ancient Rome, such as the drama about the life and the death of Julius Caesar. How faithfully did the writer render the events of March and the days after them? Did he change and colour the story, or did he base his work on detailed accounts of ancient historians?

There are many examples of marital fidelity in ancient Rome. Often, when one of the parties died, the other often took her own life in a gesture of despair.

Battle of Aquae Sextiae (southern France) in 102 BCE was one of the greatest and most important victories of the Roman legions. Rome had to defend itself against the invasion of two Germanic tribes: Teutons and Cimbri, who at Arausio in Gaul in 105 BCE. they caused the Romans a great defeat. According to Titus Livius, about 80,000 Romans were to die during this battle. It was one of the greatest defeats of the Roman army in history.

Roman writers and the upper Roman classes in general, despite their privileged position, were afraid to go too far in criticizing women, as it could cost them a lot (women were treated with some respect, nevertheless, especially as long as they were able to bear children). Old women were an exception because of their social and moral consent. As the position of women grew, there were these old women portrayed as mischievous wags and witches.

From about 700 BCE the Etruscans, people who lived in Etruria (today’s Umbria and Tuscany in Italy), were the first able to create dentures and artificial teeth. The teeth were either from another person or from an animal such as an ox – they were placed in a golden rim with a metal pin/tang and fitted to the remaining teeth. Only the rich could afford such a “dentist”.

View of Vesuvius through the gate at Palestra Samnitica, in Pompeii. What is worth emphasizing, the mountain was not as visible as it is now. The inhabitants of Pompeii and the Herculaneum painted frescoes with Vesuvius, although they did not know how much of a threat this mountain had to them¹.

The glass was not an invention of the Romans. In many ancient lands, efforts were made to find light-transmitting material that could be used to cover window openings, previously covered with wooden blinds. Various materials were experimented in the Hellenic world: grease-soaked cloth, thin plaster tiles, mica and a horn. For hundreds of years wealthy people have advised you in this way. However, as glass was learned over time, it began to displace other materials.

Sophists were concerned with making speeches that moved crowds, although they often concerned fictional situations or events from the past. It wasn’t necessarily what the rhetorian said, but how he says it. Speaking skills were highly valued in both the Greek and Roman worlds.