Curiosities of ancient Rome (Unknown facts)
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Rule of law by Gaius Verres?
It is probably known to everyone a phenomenon in the form of Gaius Verres and his abuses as governor of Sicily. He was so bold and greedy in his actions that we can expect that there was no sanctity for ... Read more
Lanista – gladiator’s trainer
Lanista was the trainer of gladiators. The lanista’s art was probably to train people to fight, and then put them against each other in interesting combinations: for example, the combination of “fishhead” (mirmillo) with “net-man” (retiarius). From time to time, ... Read more
Political violence during tribune of Clodius Pulcher
Political violence has existed in Rome for a long time. Often there were fights or scuffles between supporters of various candidates. However, 57 BCE took the violence to a new level. In December 59 BCE Publius Clodius Pulcher became a ... Read more
Cities of ancient Romans
Roman cities that arose along with the development of the empire were characterized by a specific location resulting from economic premises. As a result of these location rules, it is believed that Roman cities were primarily consumer centres where goods ... Read more
Pliny the Younger and Christians
Pliny the Younger was a Roman politician and magistrate during the Roman Empire. The most important position he took was the office of governor (legatus Augusti) of the province of Bithynia et Pontus (current Turkey), in 110 CE, during the ... Read more
How could you recognize slave in ancient Rome?
With the expansion of the Roman republic in the second and first century BCE intensified slavery. Some sources say that in the first century BCE in Italy alone there were 2-3 million slaves, which constituted 35-40% of the population on ... Read more
Roman dating and counting of days
As it turns out, the Roman way of counting and determining specific days in a month was different from what we use now. Ancient Romans used the following terms: calends, nones, ides. In the beginning, however, it is worth mentioning ... Read more
Great Harbour of Carthage
Famous Carthaginian Great Harbour was an artificial protected water reservoir. In ancient times this type of port was called the Greek cothon (“drinking vessel”). These types of constructions were built especially in lands controlled by Phoenicians, e.g. Sicily or Cyprus. ... Read more
Hannibal’s elephants
Hannibal became famous not only for his great victories over disciplined Romans during the Second Punic War but also for his surprising march through the Pyrenees and the Alps. During his trip, he had 38 elephants with him – animals ... Read more
First mention of UFOs from time of Romans?
All the time we hear about sensational reports of observation of unidentified flying objects – UFOs. As it turns out, the ancient writers also left us interesting accounts. In 218 BCE, according to Livy, a huge fleet of ships was ... Read more
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