The post-Republican era of ancient Rome was known as the Roman Empire. It was a state with substantial territorial holdings in Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia that were ruled by emperors.

It was a principate with Italy serving as the metropole of its provinces and the city of Rome serving as its sole capital from the ascension of Caesar Augustus as the first Roman emperor to the military anarchy of the third century.

 Later, the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire were ruled by different emperors who shared power.

Up until AD 476, when the imperial insignia were transported to Constantinople after the conquest of the Western capital of Ravenna, the City of Rome remained the formal capital of both regions.

With such a vast story, the Roman Empire has some curiosities that you may not know of.

So, in this article, we are going to present some curiosities about this amazing empire.

The legend of Romulus and Remus is untrue.

Romulus was most likely given that name to fit the name of the town that he is claimed to have established on Palatine Hill before murdering his sibling.

By the fourth century BC, Romans who were proud of their heroic founder had adopted the legend.

The twins and their wolf stepmother were pictured on the first coins of Rome. The tale was featured in the first history of the city, written by the Greek author Diocles of Peparethus.

You probably already know how good Italian food is, but in ancient Rome, it was rather typical for people to throw up in between meals in order to keep eating.

Rome gave its defeated enemies citizenship privileges after winning the Latin War, though not the right to vote.

For most of Roman history, this strategy for integrating conquered peoples was used.

The Romans weren’t just skilled warriors; they were also amazing architects and engineers. They also constructed walls and roadways. Popular examples of their architecture include The Colosseum Museum, The Masion Carree, Leptis Magna, and others.

Rome ruled Italy after winning the Pyrrhic War in 275 BC.

Their defeated Greek rivals had been regarded as the greatest in antiquity. All of Italy was under Roman rule by 264 BC.

Rome sided with Carthage in the Pyrrhic War.

In a battle for control of the Mediterranean for more than a century, the North African city-state would soon become its adversary.

Prior to the Conflict of the Orders, which took place between 494 BC and 287 BCE, and saw the Plebs win concessions by using labor withdrawal and occasionally city evacuation, Rome was already a highly hierarchical society. Plebeians, small landowners, and tradesmen had few rights while the aristocratic Patricians ruled the city.

Hamilcar Barca, Hannibal’s father, led the city’s forces during the First Punic War.

According to historical records, Hannibal crossed the Alps in the Second Punic War in 218 BC with 38,000 troops, 8,000 cavalries, and 38 elephants before descending into Italy with roughly 20,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry, and a few elephants.

In 216 BC, Hannibal dealt Rome the biggest military loss in its history at the Battle of Cannae.

A considerably smaller group of warriors killed or captured between 50,000 and 70,000 Roman soldiers. The ideal “war of annihilation” is regarded as one of the greatest military achievements (and failures) in history.

The ancient Roman festival known as Saturnalia, which celebrated the god Saturn, began on December 17 of the Julian calendar and later lasted through December 23.

The master and the slaves would alternate roles throughout this time. It was “the greatest of days,” according to the poet Catullus. Why else would it be, then? … for slavery.

The Colosseum served as Rome’s premier sports venue.

It took roughly ten years to construct the Nero palaces that had been destroyed, and they could accommodate up to 80,000 spectators. Construction began in 70 AD.

Even bigger was the Circus Maximus, which was primarily devoted to chariot racing.

According to some sources, it could accommodate crowds of up to 250,000. (Though 150,000 is probably more likely).

Julius Caesar and Augustus, the first Emperor, assisted in transforming it from a straightforward racetrack to the biggest stadium in the world starting approximately 50 BC.

By the end of the third century, there were 11 aqueducts serving Rome itself, totaling almost 800 km of man-made waterways.

People were able to indulge in things like art, politics, engineering, and specialty trades and industries because cities liberated them from subsistence agriculture.

 It was an amazing feat to build these systems that harnessed gravity to transport water across great distances and down steep slopes.