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Unknown Facts are curiosities revealing little-known, surprising, or rarely discussed information from the world of ancient Rome and antiquity. This category includes unusual details, curiosities, and facts that offer a less obvious perspective on the Roman Empire.
In ancient Rome operated colleges (collegia), gathering employees of the same branch of trade. These types of associations were created either on the initiative of the Senate or independently. What’s more, there were also religious associations.
Hypocrisy in eyes of Romans:
“Self-made man” in the Roman edition – during discussion in “The Banquet of Trimalchio” (Petronius):
According to Marcus Terentius Varro, whose works have been preserved in a very small and poor form, we can trace the etymology of Latin names associated with the rise of the city of Rome. And so, the place where Rome is today, was called Septimontium, from the seven hills that were later included in the city walls.
On October 1, 326 CE Emperor Constantine prohibited the penalty ad beast and exchanged it for metella. This meant that it was no longer allowed to punish with tearing in the arena by wild animals, and the convicts were sent to forced labor in the mines.
Considering the success of the movie “The Hunger Games”, we do not differ much from the ancient Romans when it comes to the passion for cruel pastimes.
Despite the fact that the Romans over the years have organized bloody games on an increasing scale, some emperors tried to curb the bestiality. Already at the beginning of rule of Augustus, he tried to change the Roman customs – after the profusion of Julius Caesar and earlier Gnaeus Pompeius – and restore the Greek games, where more attention was paid to sports competitions. The games called Actiaca were held for the first time in 28 BCE and they were to take place every 4 years, celebration o won battle of Actium.
On the ORBIS website was launched an project “Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World”, which will allow us to find out how long it took and how much it cost to travel in Roman times.
