Ancient Rome Facts II

Did you know that the ancient Romans believed that dreaming of a certain god was seen as a sign for the kind of journey to expect? In this article, you will learn how some Romans perceived the images that came to them in the middle of the night. You will also encounter information pertaining to the connection between Romans and Greeks.

Seeing gods Dioscuri or Dionysus meant that you would experience a bad journey, while seeing Hermes or Aphrodite signified good travel in your dreams. A good omen regarding dreaming of gods was seeing statues that seemed to move. Seeing clear bright air in your dream was a good sign before embarking on a journey. However, if you saw garlands of narcissi or marshes , you should prepare for a bad trip. If wild boars were seen in your dream, prepare for stormy weather conditions.

Bandits and other criminals were also a concern for people preparing for travel. If you dreamed of a quail, it meant that you would be tricked or run into bandits on your way to the next destination. If you saw owls in your dream, then you could be in line to experience a storm or run into bandits along the way.

Dreaming of a donkey meant that you would enjoy a safe trip, but it would take a long time.
Latin was the customary method of choice for Romans speaking to Greeks.

Ancient Romans viewed the Greeks as silly, narcissistic, irresponsible, sloppy, and unreliable. They believed that a Greek could never be trusted to tell the truth. However, the aristocrats would hire mostly Greeks to teach their Roman children. By the time the end of the Roman Republic had neared, nearly all of the education in Rome had been achieved through the teachings of Greeks.

During the Late Roman Republic, only one permanent theatre was in existence in Rome. It was situated in Pompey and was constructed in 55 BCE. Up until then, theatre performances were held on wooden stages that were built for temporary reasons. After the play was acted out, the stage was dismantled.

Comedies were the preferred genre of the theatre and after about 85 BCE, it was rare to see a tragic performance in Rome.

The ancient Romans kept time by using a sundial or water clock. The day was designated 12 hours, while the night was assigned another 12 hours. No matter what, noon was always the sixth hour of the day and midnight was always the sixth hour of the night.

It was recorded in 350 CE that there were 1790 private homes and 46,602 insulae (better known as multi-story apartment buildings) located in Rome.

The worst punishment that could happen to someone living during the Roman Republic was crucifixion , a common sentence for a person that committed a capital offense. This kind of penalty was allocated for non-citizen Romans. If citizen Romans committed the same crimes, they may have been sentenced to work in the mines. In many cases, this form of punishment was just as bad as receiving a death sentence.