Curiosities of ancient Rome (Unknown facts)

In Pompeii since 2016, you can admire the sculptures of the Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj, who died in 2014. The artist lived and worked in Tuscany for many years.

Tropaion, also simply called the trophy (tropaeum) is a form of military monument erected by Greeks and Romans in honour of victory in the battle. It was usually a vertical pole in the shape of a tree with outstretched arms (later crossed with two sticks), to which captured military items were attached. The trophy was next sacrificed to deities for victory.

Ancient Romans believed that their ancestors gave them a catalogue of values ​​to live by. They called him the term mos maiorum, or “the customs of the ancestors.” In practice, the Roman believed that the old is good because it has already been used in practice. In turn, “new things” (res novae) were, according to the Romans, a form of revolution that they associated with chaos and violence.

Horologium Solarium Augusti was the largest sundial and calendar of all time. The monument was located in Rome on Field of Mars. Currently, this obelisk is located in Piazza Montecitorio in Rome in front of the Chamber of Deputies.

The conquests of Gnaeus Pompey in the east were so spectacular that the living at that time compared the Roman commander to the famous Alexander the Great – hence he later adopted the nickname “the Great”, meaning Magnus. His strength and political significance grew so much that in practice he was the independent king in the years 66-62 BCE.

During the rule of Augustus (27 BCE – 14 CE), the inhabitants of the capital of Rome “produced” 60,000 tonnes of waste every day. It was a huge call to remove all debris from the city.

There is a popular belief that ancient Romans after defeating Carthage in 146 BCE not only razed the city to the ground but also sprinkled it with salt, in order to make sure that nothing would grow in these hated areas.

The Roman fullones were supposed to both clean and smooth the material after receiving it from the weaving workshop, as well as clean the clothes from dirt and bleach or enhance the colour. Fuller workshops were called fullonicae.

Emperor Commodus – reigning in 180-192 CE – often fought as a gladiator in the arena, armed with an iron sword. His rivals wielded a heavier lead weapon to make it harder for them to hurt the ruler.