The Ancient Rome civilization began on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC.
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Life expectancy in Ancient Rome was from 20 to 30 years.
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At its peak, the Roman Empire comprised only 12% of the world's population.
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The Roman Empire was not the largest empire in history. It was only the 28th largest.
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The wars between Romans and Persians lasted about 721 years, the longest conflict in human history.
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Ancient Romans celebrated "Saturnalia", a festival in which slaves and their masters would switch places.
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During the 7th century B.C., ancient Roman "vestal virgins" were required to keep their hymens intact as proof of virginity until age 30 or they would be buried alive.
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Ancient Rome was eight times more densely populated than modern New York.
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The inhabitants of ancient Rome had a sewer goddess, a toilet god, and a god of excrement.
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Urine was used in Ancient Rome to wash clothes.
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The Romans used urine to whiten their teeth.
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Early Christians were called "atheists" by Romans as they didn't pay tribute to pagan gods.
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Ancient Rome in 150 CE had less income inequality than the U.S. today.
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The Roman Emperor Gaius Caligula made his horse a senator.
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Ancient Greeks and Romans often bought slaves with salt.
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Women in ancient Rome wore the sweat of Gladiators to improve their beauty and complexion.
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Ancient Romans used a sponge on a stick to clean themselves after pooping, and shared it with everyone.
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Most Romans avoided being cruel to slaves. They used bonuses and branding to improve productivity, just like modern employers.
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Roman Gladiators rarely fought to the death or against animals and were considered celebrities of their time.
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In the 1st century AD, polar bears fought seals in Roman amphitheaters flooded with water.
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The Statue Of Liberty Was Inspired By The Roman Pagan Goddess Libertas.
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After the fall of the Roman Empire, the technology to make concrete was lost for 1000 years.
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Ancient Rome had a 4-story-tall shopping mall with 150 shops and offices.
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If Ancient Rome's Colosseum was built today, it would cost about US$380 million.
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In Ancient Rome, the punishment for killing one's father was the death penalty, consisting of being sewn up in a sack along with a viper, a dog, and a cock.
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In Ancient Rome, women would drink turpentine to make their urine smell sweet like roses.
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The Salema Porgy is a species of fish that can cause hallucinations when eaten. In Ancient Rome it was consumed as a recreational drug.
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The Pyramids of Giza were more ancient to the ancient Romans, than Ancient Rome is ancient to us.
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Flamingo tongues were a delicacy in ancient Rome.
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In 2012, divers discovered a 2,000-year-old Roman shipwreck that was so well preserved even the food was intact in its storage jars.
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Julius Caesar was pronounced 'YOO-lee-us KYE-sahr' in ancient Rome.
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Ancient Romans ran cold aqueduct water in pipes through their houses in an early form of air conditioning.
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Nero, the Roman Emperor,
married a man,
one of his freedmen,
taking the role of the bride.
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In ancient Rome, it was considered a sign of leadership to be born with a crooked nose.
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In Ancient Rome, while suicide was socially acceptable at first, it was later deemed a crime against the state due to its economic costs.
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Classical Greek culture, which flourished during the 5th to 4th centuries BC, had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire and provided the foundation of modern Western culture.
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In 86 AD, the Colosseum was filled with water to stage a full naval battle.
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Roman charioteers earned far more than even the best-paid footballers and international sports stars of today, according to academic research.
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Inhabitants of the Chinese town of Liqian have blond hair and white skin. Historians have speculated they are the descendants of a lost Roman settlement.
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In 117 ad, Emperor Hadrian declared attempted suicide by soldiers, a form of desertion and made it a capital offence.
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Cincinnati is named after Cincinnatus, a ruler of the Roman Empire who saved Rome from crisis and then retired to his farm rather than rule.
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The famous barbarian leader Attila accepted hefty subsidies in gold in exchange for not attacking Roman territory — then did it anyway.
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In A.D. 77, Pliny the Elder, an adviser to Roman emperors and the author of at least 75 books, published the first encyclopedia, Natural History.
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In Roman times, men held their own testicles as a sign of truthfulness while bearing witness in a public forum.
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Roman emperor Hadrian, in 117 AD, declared attempted suicide by soldiers a form of desertion and made it a capital offense.
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By the fifth century AD, Rome had around 900 public baths.
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Roman Emperor Tiberius banned kissing, believing it caused the spread of a fungal disease called mentagra (inflamed hair follicles).
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When Julius Caesar was kidnapped by pirates, he demanded they increase his ransom.
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Roman emperor Diocletian retired in 305 AD to grow vegetables in his home town of Split, Croatia.
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Ancient Greek and Roman statues were actually brilliantly colored and not just bare marble or stone.
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In Ancient Rome, women donated their hair for use as military catapult elastic.
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Instead of a Foreign Office, the Roman Empire had a "Bureau of Barbarians".
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Ancient Romans running for office wore a distinctive toga called the "toga candida." Hence the word "candidate."
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