How Often Do You Think About the Roman Empire?

Rome wasn’t built in a day, which probably explains why there’s decades’ worth of cool stuff to dig up about this ancient empire. With that in mind, here are 10 of the most surprising and coolest facts about the Roman world.

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1. Flamingo Tongues

When it came to delicacies, the Romans were known to partake in flamingo tongues. This was considered a luxurious food and was noted for its fine taste. Nowadays, most people think twice before eating flamingos.

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2. Drinking Poison

Considering all the assassination attempts going on, it comes as no surprise that many Romans drank different kinds of poisons every day. They did this to build up an immune system, although their success is dubious at best.

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3. Banned Kissing

One Roman emperor, Tiberius, simply hated the sight of kissing. This is why kissing in public was actually banned within the ancient empire.

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4. Saturnalia

Slavery is an unfortunate reality that plagued the time period, but interestingly enough, during the festival of Saturnalia, slaves would become equals to their masters. This paved the way for all sorts of shenanigans.

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5. Gladiator Sweat

Gladiators are all the rage, both in modern-time movies and in real-world historical Colosseum. The women of Rome weren’t immune to their charms, which is why gladiator sweat was collected and used as an aphrodisiac.

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6. Vomit and Feasts

This is pretty gross, so avert your eyes if you’re feeling squeamish. In Rome, it was typical for wealthy people to have hour-long feasts, and in order to keep up their appetites, they would often purge and vomit as they went.

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7. Horsing Around

One Roman emperor in particular, Caligula, simply adored his horse. So much so that he gave the horse a marble stable and tried to have him elected as a politician.

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8. Hair Dyes

When we think of hair dyes, we think of modern-day salons and products. But the ancient Romans loved their hair dyes, and women would often use goat fat and henna to color their hair red and blonde.

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9. Gladiator Blood

The poor gladiators simply couldn’t catch a break. If it wasn’t their sweat the Romans were after, then it would be their blood. This is because the Romans believed gladiator blood could cure epilepsy.

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10. No Soap

The ancient Romans are recognized as intelligent and advanced for their time. However, when it came to cleanliness, they may have figured out aqueducts and plumbing, but they let the standards slip when it came to soap. Instead of using soap to clean themselves, the Romans preferred perfumed oils.

Now that we have discussed the most surprising stories to come out of Rome, here are 10 facts that are simply cool and worth knowing.

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1. Founder’s Myth

It may surprise you to hear that the legendary story about Remus and Romulus, the brothers who discovered Rome, was actually no more than a myth. However, the Romans loved this story and were quick to adopt it.

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2. Conquered Rights

Since Rome had a powerful military and an aptitude for conquering, it may surprise you to hear that they often integrated their conquered foes. This means when cities were taken over, the people would be given citizens’ rights.

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3. Pantheon Dome

When it comes to architectural feats, many people agree that the Romans created numerous impressive structures. In fact, the Pantheon’s dome in Rome holds the record for the world’s largest unsupported concrete dome.

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4. The Largest Colosseum

Additionally, the Colosseum in Rome attracts millions of visitors annually, as it is one of the largest ancient game rooms around. However, there was an even larger one created, known as the Circus Maximus, which held an impressive 250,000 people.

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5. Aqueducts

The Romans are credited with the creation of aqueducts, and impressively, they had over 800 kilometers of water flowing through their cities on a given day. This allowed them to get ahead in agriculture and construction.

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6. Standing Bridges

The architectural ingenuity of Rome is evident in how sturdy their structures remain. Despite centuries having passed, there are bridges in Rome that are still used by locals to this day.

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7. Caesar and Cleopatra

Caesar and Cleopatra were quite the power couple, merging the advanced societies of Egypt and Rome. While they are considered romantic icons today, in reality, they were never truly married. In Rome, a marriage only counted if it was between two Roman citizens.

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8. Empirical Heights

Like most empires, Rome’s power shifted throughout the ages, with cities joining and leaving its ranks. However, at its height, Rome ruled over 40 modern nations, an overall space of 5 million square kilometers.

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9. Lying Down

A simpler but amusing fact about the Roman people is their proclivity to eat while lying down. In upper-class societies especially, eating was considered a relaxed occurrence, and the wealthiest would lay down on their couches while enjoying storks, parrots, and flamingos.

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10. Attractive Unibrows

In terms of beauty standards, there were plenty of things the Romans liked. For instance, purple was the preferred color, and hair dye was a popular option. Most notably, unibrows were very fashionable and considered beautiful on women.

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