Curiosities of ancient Rome (Unknown facts)

Letters SPQR can be seen on many monuments, buildings and banners. They mean Senatus Populusque Romanus, meaning “Roman Senate and People”. These words were a symbol of Roman identity and official name of the Roman Empire. Abbreviation SPQR, until the eagle’s image became popular, served as the state emblem.

Researchers from UCLA and the National Gallery of Art in Washington used the latest technologies to discover the process of the creation of an ancient work of art – a female Fayum mummy portrait.

In ancient times, urine was a valuable commodity and many people collected it and then delivered it for a fee to manufactories that used it to bleach the material and remove stains. Due to this practice and the desire to provide additional funds to the state treasury, in 74 CE, Emperor Vespasian introduced urine tax (urinae vectigal).

Roman tax collectors were apparently usually extraordinary “extortioners.” The father of Emperor Vespasian – Titus Flavius Sabinus was an exception. He was a tax collector of the fortieth part (quadragesima, port tax) in Asia. According to sources, he was an extremely righteous and just man in performing his role.

Gnaeus Pompey was famous for hosting on a huge scale games with wild animals. When he became a consul, he took care of the construction of the theater, where he exhibited mimic, music and wild music contests, including elephants. According to Plutarch, 500 lions were also supposed to die there. If it’s about bloody animal shows, the bears were fighting buffalo, buffalo with elephants, rhinoceros elephants.

Onomatopoeias in Roman comedies: “hahae” – laughter; “vae” – disgust; “ehem” – surprise; “heu” – sadness; “uah” – embarrassment.

Lucius Aurelius Avianius Symmachus – Prefect of Rome from 364 CE – supervised the constructions under water. In order to achieve cement strength under water, some amount of wine was added to it.

Illustration of the birth of Julius Caesar from a 14th century illuminated manuscript called Les anciennes hystoires rommaines. 

If you want to say hello in ancient Rome, it would be enough to say Salvē (in case of one recipient) or Salvēte, if we would welcome a larger group of people. Naturally, you could also use the word Avē. Avē and Salvē can simply be translated as “Hi”.

The name of the operation – Caesarean section – is connected with Rome, where the law prohibited the burial of a pregnant woman without taking her fetus out of her womb.