<i></i> <i></i> <i></i> -1<p>Rome, the city that connects history and modernism in the most perfect way. It’s a city in the heart of Italy with unworldly wonders like the unbelievable leaning tower of Pisa, the legendary colosseum and not to forget the ever powerful Vatican. These institutions have existed for hundreds of years now. They symbolise the artistic nature of the ancient inhabitants of Rome. Romans were a brute force, pulverising anything and everything they weren’t in favour of. Rewind to a few centuries ago and you’ll find that they conquered and ruled a huge part of Europe leaving a mark wherever they went. They are arguably the most celebrated empire in the modern day era, remember the movie ‘Gladiator’? But apart from all the glory and tradition their civilisation was dissolved into, they were pretty crazy. Okay, you might argue people really didn’t have much in terms of entertainment in the past but Romans really took it to the next level just to have a little fun.</p> <h2>16. Famous Feasts</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1121.jpeg"/>shutterstock <p>Everyone loves food right? Top it off with lots and lots and lots of alcohol and you’ll be feasting like the Romans. The Romans really enjoyed their banquets. So much so that these feasts would continue till the food finished (which could be days). Rome was the place where the rich and the elite would throw fancy dinner parties with lots of food and wine, music, dancers and even acrobats to entertain their guests. Can you guess what everyone looked forward to the most? If you thought it was the music, you really need to check up on your Roman knowledge. Of course it was the food and wine that was the center of attention. Fun fact, since the party would go on till the food didn’t run out, you could find people throwing up everywhere just to make room for more. Wow. Talk about commitment.</p> <h2>15. Caligula</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1123.jpeg"/>shutterstock <p>That’s not some ancient magic trick, it was the name of a Roman Emperor who really loved his horse. The horse was living a better and more luxurious life than more than half of Rome’s population. It lived in an elegantly constructed marble stable with an ivory manger. The Emperor really had a thing for the horse. He even wanted to make his horse the Consul. The Consul was the highest elected office in the Roman Emperor. I’ve heard leaders do that for the women they love, but for a horse? They must have had some really deep connection.</p> <h2>14. Washing Clothes and Armour With Urine</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1125.jpeg"/>listverse.com <p>Okay, this is disgusting no matter how you look at it! Back in the day people would wear the same piece of clothing for days. They didn’t have 7/11 stores around to buy soap or washing powder. So they came up with their own soap. Urine. Chemically speaking, urine contains ammonia which is one of the catalysts for cleaning products today. So they weren’t that far of. Maybe they knew what they were doing. But let’s just say it is disgusting from every angle. There’s no way you can wear clothes drenched in your own urine unless you’re Roman.</p> <h2>13. Gladiator Fights at the Colosseum</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1127.jpeg"/>shutterstock <p>One of the world’s most famous amphitheaters, the Colosseum was the battle ground for all those young Roman men who had the balls to step into that daunting sphere surrounded by hundreds of ecstatic fans cheering them on. It took eight years to complete and is still the largest amphitheater ever built. That devastatingly unnerving arena was home to death defying battles between gladiators and animals. It is said that more than 400,000 people and 100,000 animals died inside it. It was considered Rome’s biggest source of entertainment for more than 300 years. So, this was something they would do just for kicks.</p> <h2>12. No Lefties Allowed</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1129.jpeg"/>ancientart.tumblr.com <p>We’ve heard and seen some absurd discrimination techniques, but this is a first! Romans were supposedly extremely superstitious. They were afraid of going towards the left. They would rid themselves of anything that would lead them to the left. So what do those poor naive left-handed people do? Well, either they learn how to do things and operate with their right hand or they would be a target for slurs and taunts for the rest of their lives. The English word ‘sinister’ has its roots in the Latin word for ‘left’. The Romans roamed everywhere.</p> <h2>11. Sexual modesty</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1131.jpeg"/>Crystalinks <p>The romans were people who had their own way through life; whether it be physical exercise, emotional transitions or in this case, sexual activity. The great Paul Veyne of France went through his scholarly journals and narrated that romans were paralyzed by sexual inhibitions. The romans were people who lived on the bases of acceptance which was to be unanimous, of course. The romans had their sexual relations according to social acceptance. This includes that after the wedding night, the wife shall not allow her husband to see her naked and exposed and consequently, the male shall not indulge in intimacy with any significant other except for his wife.</p> <h2>10. Generals were far from the battleground</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1132.jpeg"/>shutterstock <p>As the heading depicts, the roman emperors, although they loved those inch perfect sketches and paintings of them being the heroes who were to save the civilization; valiantly riding their trusty steed in to the horizon. But the truth behind those pictures is different. The generals of the roman empire were not to participate in the strangleholds of war and were to watch from afar and manage the scenario at hand; calculate their next move. If the battle was to be lost than the commander would draw his sword to his own death or die at the hands of the enemy, keeping his reputation intact. The first emperor to fight in battle was Maximinus Thrax ( AD 235 to 238).</p> <h2>9. Emperors poisoned themselves everyday</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1133.jpeg"/>etsy <p>From the end of the first century AD, the roman emperors had made a habit of taking a small dose of poison on a daily basis in hopes of enhancing there immunity. The mixture that they were to use was known as Mithridatium which was named after the originator the said practice, Mithridates the great, King of Pontus (reigned from C120 to 65BC). The poison was consumed through a drinking vessel made from the horn of the one horned horses or donkeys which were believed by the romans to have lived in India. It was thought to be an antidote to fatal poisons</p> <h2>8. Roman Warships were not rowed by Slaves</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1134.jpeg"/>shutterstock <p>As it is seen in the movies these days, when a galley or a large ship appears it is usually followed by the cringing sounds of chained up slaves being controlled by the whip of the overseer. The Romans however believed in the ideology ‘civic militarism’. This basically implies that each and all of the citizens were responsible for fulfilling their duty of fighting for the state. In turn, this deed would provide them with political rights. This was a more equitable way of treating the citizens as slaves were not forced to serve the state. In the hand full of times when the slaves were inducted into the armed forces, they were either freed or promised manumission in accordance with how well they would perform in battle. This tells us that Romans weren’t as cruel as many of the other more cynical empires.</p> <h2>7. Many Romans disliked Philosophy</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1135.jpeg"/>shutterstock <p>Romans were hostile towards philosophy because of their rather more enlightened counterparts the Greeks. Roman attitudes towards the Greeks were very uncertain. Since philosophy was a Greek invention and the Greeks were a conquered race, Romans thought to believe that it was beneath them to indulge in something that was invented by mere weaklings. Another thing that enforced harshness towards philosophy was the fact that maybe it was just too much to understand for the Romans. The study of philosophy with its hair-splitting discoveries and emphasis on the inner man was considered a hinderance for men who lived to serve the state. Galen, the doctor to the Greek Imperial Court, claimed that Romans regarded philosophy as being of no more use than drilling holes in millet seeds.</p> <h2>6. Romans justified Christian persecution</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1136.jpeg"/>shutterstock <p>Romans were avid followers of their own pagan gods who consequently marshaled the society that they had crafted out for themselves. The Christians, contrary to the Roman beliefs, argued that these pagan gods were either evil demons or didn’t exist at all. The Romans believed that if they would do right by their self-made god, those gods would do right by them. They could not afford to let Christians roam about freely with the beliefs they withheld. The Christians were allowed every chance to accept and acknowledge the pagan gods to avoid martyrdom. But inevitably, there were executions of those with staunch Christian beliefs.</p> <h2>5. Not all Romans Spoke Latin</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1137.jpeg"/>shutterstock <p>The Roman civilization was made up of approximately more than 65 million inhabitants. The Roman Empire stretched from the Atlantis to Tigris, and it is believed that most of the people that were given solace in the Roman region stuck to and proudly spoke their own languages. Especially in the countryside, where Latin had not yet become popular. Thus languages such as Cappadocian and Thraccian survived. Latin was the language of Roman law and the armed forces. The Roman elite were predominantly bilingual meaning thereby that over the years they had gathered avid understanding of the Greek language that had gained fame all over Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries. Usage of Latin was so undermined that when Julius Caesar was being executed, people shouted in Greek rather than their native language that is Latin.</p> <h2>4. They did not all die young</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1138.jpeg"/>Wikimedia <p>This concept is often fictionalized because of the average life expectance of the Romans, which mind you is not completely accurate as the data is subjective. From recent studies it is noted that the average life expectancy of Roman was 25. But this does not necessarily mean that no one lived into their thirties or even into old age. This figure aroused because of the large number of women who died giving birth and high infant mortality rates. If a Roman made it into maturity they were bound to live as long as anyone in today’s Western Europe.</p> <h2>3. Babies depended on Father’s mercy</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1139.jpeg"/>ushhome.com <p>At the end of the day, the existential crisis of men becoming inertly cold-hearted and extremely volatile did exist. The number of battles an average Roman man would have to fight during his tenure in the army excreted a feeling of numbness. This was at display when a baby would be born. The baby would be placed in front of the father’s feet and if he picked up the baby that meant that he wanted to keep it. If he didn’t, the unwanted babies would be left alone to die as no one else would take care of them.</p> <h2>2. Women were dying hair</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1140.jpeg"/>shutterstock <p>It would seem that this would be a modern day trend. Women today use dye almost as much as we use toothpaste these days but the funny thing is that this had been happening for centuries. Roman women used to spend hours of their day dying their hair. They would use all sorts of shades like brown, blonde and even red. The dye was made up of different materials including goat fat, beech wood ashes, henna, saffron and bleach. It seems that Roman women knew how to keep themselves busy. Women have always been the frontrunners when it comes to style and fashion. Maybe it was the Romans who started the trend?</p> <h2>1. Nero the Emperor</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1141.jpeg"/>shutterstock <p>Last but not the least, if we’re talking about crazy things we can’t miss out this guy. Nero was the craziest Emperor Rome has ever seen. He was brutal and is known to have killed people for absurd reasons. He was the definition of ‘man gone rogue’. He was spending the state’s treasury fund on luxuries while people died of poverty and hunger. He also murdered his mother and wife. On his death bed he uttered these words, “What an artist I die”. The day of his death is a national holiday for the Romans.</p> <i></i>