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Curiosities of ancient Rome (Unknown facts)

The world of ancient Romans abounded in a number of amazing curiosities and information. The source of knowledge about the life of the Romans are mainly works left to us by ancient writers or discoveries. The Romans left behind a lot of strange information and facts that are sometimes hard to believe.

Spectacles in Colosseum

The Flavian Amphitheater was an amazing construction for ancient times. The engineers took care of every detail to such an extent that they even anticipated the possibility of spreading a special canvas roof that was stretched over the stands on hot days. It was referred to as velum or velarium. The audience could also count on another form of coolness.

Velarium

Performances of wild animals in Roman arenas

The performances of wild animals in the Roman arenas certainly aroused excitement in the viewers. Roman politicians were able to het support from the crowds by bringing huge amounts of animals, which then offered entertainment to the crowds. We know many stories and ways to create a spectacle. Some of them were really inhuman.

Roman animals

Tabularium – Roman archive

Tabularium was a Roman state, military, temple, city archive, etc., in which the most important documents and legal acts were stored and legal acts written on tablets, rolls of papyrus and parchment. Such an archive was initially administered by censors, and later by specially appointed curators.

Tabularium

Which Brutus?

According to some sources, Caesar, seeing among the conspirators Brutus, was to exclaim, “You too, child?”. Was it really so, we are not sure. However, even if in fact it was so, we are not sure which Brutus – of the two involved in the plot – would be addressed.

Marcus Junius Brutus

Signaculum – Roman immortals?

The army of ancient Rome could use the so-called dog tags, which would contradict the popular opinion that they were used for the first time in history during the Civil War. The Roman dog tag was called signaculum and every legionnaire was to receive one after being recruited.

Signaculum

Counting on fingers in ancient Rome

In source messages, we can find information that confirms how widespread and important to ancient Romans was counting on the fingers. An example is Quintilian, who mentions that knowledge of numbers is needed not only for speakers but also for anyone who can write. A speaker who can not perform basic calculations shows hesitation and shows abnormal gestures with his fingers immediately loses confidence.

Illustration by Lucia Pacioli

Sexually transmitted diseases in antiquity

People had to deal with sexually transmitted diseases in antiquity. One of them was, for example, herpes, for which the Romans invented two, not very popular methods of treatment. The first major plague epidemic appeared during the reign of emperor Tiberius, at the beginning of the first century CE.

Venereal diseases in antiquity

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