Curiosities of ancient Rome (Unknown facts)
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Urine in ancient Rome
In ancient Rome, urine was a versatile and valuable commodity that had many uses, from medicine to cleaning to manufacturing. While some of these uses may seem strange or even repulsive today, it’s important to remember that the Romans were ... Read more
Who decided about punishment for murderer in early Rome?
According to the original social rules in ancient Rome, it was the family of the victim who chose the type of punishment for the murderer. We do not have any written laws, in the set of XII tables, that govern ... Read more
Why did Romans use “crooked” dice to play?
Two researchers of ancient items believe they may have solved the mystery of why people living during the Roman Empire used “crooked” dice in their games. In their article published in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, Jelmer Eerkens and ... Read more
Great fratricidal fight
Period of civil wars of the 1st century BCE was a time of a great fratricidal struggle between the very citizens of Rome. As Marcus Favonius, Cato’s friend, noted: “Civil war was worse than the most illegal monarchy”1. Representatives of ... Read more
Bellum sociale
War of the allies (so-called bellum sociale) fought in 90-88 BCE was a conflict between the Roman Republic and its Italian allies (socii). For years, the policy of “divide and conquer” allowed to keep many cities and peoples of Italy ... Read more
Banishment in Rome
Banishment was commonly used in ancient Rome. One of its variations was the punishment interdicere aquae et ignis (“to prohibit fire and water”). The convict was forced to leave Roman lands and automatically lost his property to the state. If ... Read more
Did Romans drink beer?
Beer, currently an extremely popular drink, was not popular in Greek and Roman civilizations. Pliny the Elder referred to beer as barley wine and treated it very contemptuously. Apparently, their foam was supposed to be good for the complexion of ... Read more
Aes signatum – precursor of Roman money
Aes signatum was a primitive form of Roman money, succeeding aes rude – copper nuggets. The exact date of the introduction of these “coins” is unknown, but it is believed that it took place in the middle of the 5th ... Read more
Patria potestas – paternal authority
In the Roman family, the husband and father were the head of the family. “Paternal authority” (patria potestas) lasted as a rule for life. It died out only with the death patris familias. Then the wife of the deceased (if ... Read more
Correction of morals under Augustus
Octavian Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire (27 BCE – 14 CE), from the beginning of his office, proclaimed the need to correct morals, criticizing promiscuity and a taste for luxury. As it turned out, he had to ... Read more
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