The Roman Empire was one of the most important and famous empires in the history of the world. Below you will find a small list, with some of the curiosities about this magnificent empire.
- Ancient Roman civilization began in the Italian Peninsula in the 8th century BC. In 753 BC the legendary king Romulus founded a powerful and rich city, which dominated Europe for centuries to come.
- The life expectancy of ordinary people living in the Roman Empire was 35-40 years.
- At its peak, the Roman Empire estimated that about 12% of the world’s population lived there.
- The Romans were 721 years at war with the Parthian Empire. During this time, numerous battles were fought between the two empires.
- Rich Romanians enjoyed exotic food: fried parrot, flamingo and stork meat would be some of them.
- Paris was called Lutetia in Roman times, and London was called Londinium.
- Emperor Gaius Caligula made his horse a senator, to mock the senators.
- The Romans paid their soldiers salt. Hence the word salary.
- Same-sex marriages were allowed during the Roman Empire. It is said that Emperor Nero was married to two men.
- The Romans used urine to wash clothes.
- In Spain there are two dams built by the Romanians, which are still functional today.
- And in the Roman period there were malls. Trajan’s Square was a shopping center that housed about 150 shops.
- Some research states that the population of ancient Rome was 6 times denser than that of New York today.
- Roman women believed that gladiator sweating helped skin health.
- More and more people claim that the Statue of Liberty in New York is, in fact, the Roman goddess Libertas.
