Curiosities of ancient Rome (Unknown facts)

The fall of the Republic and the beginnings of the Roman Empire is a fascinating period in world history. Julius Caesar, Marek Antony and Octavian Augustus undoubtedly had a great impact on the fate of Rome at that time. It can be said that their actions have changed the world.

The common name Colosseum is not derived from its “colossal size”, but from a huge building nearby (gr. kolossos) a statue of Nero depicted as Helios.

Octavian Augustus imposed on senators and higher rank of eques (equites inlustres) banned entry to the province of Egypt without explicit consent and established the prefect Egypt an eques, not a senator (as was adopted in other provinces).

Romans invented heated floors and central heating. They called the system hypocaustum, and it was used for heating homes and public and private baths with hot air. The word literally means “inferno,” from the Greek word hypo – below or below, and kaiein – burn or light a fire. In the central room under the floor, there was an oven that heated the air.

The famous “Gardens of Maecenas” ( Horti¹ Maecenatis), as the name suggests, arose on the initiative of Gaius Cilnius Maecenas, patron of art and culture in ancient Rome at the end of the 1st century BCE. They were one of the first such beautiful gardens in Rome; their creation was modelled on their Hellenistic and Persian counterparts.

Rose in ancient times had a very important symbolic meaning. This flower was associated with numerous religious rituals, imposing the obligation of secrecy on all persons participating in the ceremony.

The first libraries in the world began to be created in Mesopotamia and Egypt; one of the first and most famous Greek libraries were created at the courts of tyrants – Polycrates on the island of Samos and Peisistratos in Athens in the first half of the 5th century BCE.

In the 2nd century BCE three people lived in Rome who promoted a lifestyle based on bathing, drinking a falern (tart and strong wine produced in Campania) and eating oysters from Lake Lucrinum in Campania. They were Sergius Orata, a worldman and inventor of oyster farming, the aristocrat Lucius Cornelius Crassus and the well-known doctor Asclepiades from Bithynia.

Roman students practised writing on wax tablets using a sharp stylus. They could then wipe out the wax and use the tablet again. Such tablets were also very popular in Greece and the Middle East. They were widely used in administration, treasury and judiciary, bills and various types of registers were written on them.

Justinian the Great and silk, or the story of how two smuggling monks became national heroes.