Bust thought to be of the emperor Pertinax who was assassinated by the praetorian guard in 193 CE. This bust depicts a bearded man with a furrowed brow and he has a gorgon on his breastplate. Held in the Vatican museums.
Going once! Going twice! SOLD to the man in the fancy toga!
In the Year of the Five Emperors (193 CE), the position of emperor was put up for auction by the praetorian guard 😱
#CheekyFacts #AncientRome #AncientBluesky🏺
‘The Secession of the People to the Mons Sacer’, engraved by B. Barloccini, 1849. The image shows a crowd of disgruntled people apparently heading away from the patricians and the military forces of Rome.
Not happy with the politicians? Sick of being in debt? Take a leaf from the plebeians of Rome and start your own new settlement! When the powerful say protests and boycotts don’t work, don’t believe them. History shows the power of a good secession.
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Sculptures lining the area near the atrium Vestae in Rome. The one closet to the camera has a head which is decorated with the distinctive six bands of layered fabric that make up the Vestals’ headdress.
Did you know that Vestal Virgins could not have speech impediments? A lisp or a stutter would interfere with those important rituals, as far as the Romans were concerned. Man, their gods were so particular…
#CheekyFacts #AncientRome #AncientBluesky🏺
Statue of the goddess Cybele. She is seated, wears a crenelated crown. Beside her is a cornucopia and she holds poppies in her right hand by the looks of it. She is accompanied by a lion.
Some of the male priests of the goddess Cybele went through self-castration in order to serve her. We only have one word to describe their piety : yeeeeowch.
#CheekyFacts #AncientRome #AncientBluesky🏺
‘The discovery of the body of Catiline after the Battle of Pistoia’ (1871), by Alcide Segoni. This painting explores Catiline’s demise after leaving Rome accused of conspiring to overthrow the state. Romans searching the battlefield discover Catiline amongst the casualties.
Hating your in-laws takes on a whole different sheen in ancient Rome. Early in his career, Catiline is reputed to have murdered his own brother-in-law… But only because Sulla forced him to, right Sulla?
#CheekyFacts #AncientRome #AncientBluesky🏺
Photograph of the remaining outside facade of the Colosseum from the southern side. The drill holes for the facing marble which is now missing can be seen. Photo by Peta Greenfield in 2023.
Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things no one can imagine. We don't think Vespasian was top of anyone’s list in 68 CE, but he ended up emperor - and the rest, as they say, is the Flavian Amphitheatre!*
*The Colosseum
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Photo of murmurations of starlings over the skyline of Rome captured at dusk. They form undulating patterns of movement from the synchronous way the birds travel under certain circumstances. Source: Euro News.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? The Romans need to know because they’re always on the look out for signs from the gods. Bird movements could be significant, but they were also interested in dramatic signs, like the comet that appeared after Caesar's murder 😳
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The tomb of Eurysaces the Baker stands proudly next to part of the Aurelian walls near Termini. Made up of circular column-like structures at the base, hollowed out circular niches further up, and topped with a frieze that depicts the baking process, there’s plenty of detail to this structure.
If you worship carbs, we recommend the Tomb of the Baker near Termini station in Rome. It has survived because it was incorporated into the Aurelian Walls, rather than being torn down to make way for Rome's new building works. Breadstick, anyone?
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Etching by Bartolomeo Pinelli showing Fulvia piercing the tongue of Cicero's severed head. Dated to 1819. Fulvia’s expression suggests someone concentrating hard. Two men stand nearby watching her at this gruesome work looking equally serious.
When Cleo met Antony… He was already married. Uh-oh! His wife at the time was a ferocious woman named Fulvia, who actually started a war with Antony' rival, the future emperor Augustus 😮
Fulvia, an original bad-arse of history #CheekyFacts #AncientRome #AncientBluesky🏺
Gladiator II: Our spoiler free examination focuses on those sweet glimpses of Rome in the film trailer 🥳
#CheekyFacts #AncientRome #Gladiator2
www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/gla...
This bust is known as the ‘Antinous Mondragone’ due to it being held by the Borghese family in the Mondragone villa in Frascati (Italy). The smooth skin and stylised hair which falls in locks over Antinous’ shoulders draw attention to the craftsmanship of this piece.
Fancy taking a romantic cruise along the Nile with your main squeeze? Be careful if your lover is the Emperor Hadrian. You might find yourself in an Agatha Christie novel.
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Bartolomeo Pinelli’s etching entitled ‘Siccio Dentato Centurione (Lucius Siccius Dentatus During the Dreadfull Combat)’. The scene shows Dentatus holding out against Roman forces that have been sent against him. He doesn’t realise that he’s surrounded though and someone behind him is about to bludgeon him with a rock.
Siccius Dentatus, the man born with teeth, was an early plebeian hero.
Dentatus' mum, however, would like to let you all know that she doesn't recommend having a baby who is born with teeth. She's starting her own nipple cream company.
#CheekyFacts #AncientRome #AncientBluesky🏺
Detail of a gold glass medallion with a portrait of a family, from Alexandria (Roman Egypt) 3rd–4th century CE, Museo di Santa Giulia, Brescia, Italy. Image: Wikimedia Commons. The portrait is sometimes described as depicting Galla Placidia and her children.
Julia the Elder and Julia the Younger weren’t the only Roman mother and daughter duo who had some things in common.
Many years later, Galla Placidia and her daughter both had a bit of a thing for ‘barbarian’ kings!
#AncientRome #CheekyFacts #AncientBluesky🏺
Detail of an ancient Roman mosaic showing an eel. What’s that got to do with Vedius Pollio? Well, we recommend our new book ‘Your Cheeky Guide to the Roman Empire’ for all the salacious details!
In the Roman republic, Vedius Pollio gained quite a reputation for treating his slaves badly… but it also turns out that Vedius’ dad had been a slave.
Someone get Freud on the line!
#CheekyFacts #AncientRome #MosaicMonday #AncientBluesky🏺
Description from the MFA Boston: “Bust of the Emperor Elagabalus. The length of the bus extends to mid-chest and includes the shoulders and upper arms. Elagabalus is depicted as a clean-shaven young man with a circular face, full cheeks, small mouth with full lips, and narrow almond-shaped eyes framed by heavy lids. The head is turned gently to the right and the gaze is directed away from the viewer. The hair of his eyebrows are lightly feathered. He has a short but wide forehead. His hair is worn short, conforming to the shape of his skull, and is composed of short comma-shaped locks. He wears a style of toga known as the toga contabulata. It is distinguished by a horizontal band of stacked drapery that runs from about mid-chest to over the left shoulder. Most of the nose is missing, from mid ridge to the right nostril. There is a break in the right shoulder that goes through to the back and extends toward the left shoulder. There is also a second break closer to the end of the right shoulder. Both breaks have been repaired. Patches of a high polish are visible near the temples, cheeks, and throughout the drapery folds. There are also patches of discoloration and rootmarks on the face, as well as reddish discolorations on the right chest and in the folds over the right arm. The base and tabula are not original.”Accession number 1977.337
If you think Caracalla and Geta bring a certain brand of strange to the screen, well it doesn’t end there! Elagabalus became emperor at fourteen. Can you imagine a teenager as emperor?
Could there be scope here for a Gladiator III?
#CheekyFacts #AncientRome #AncientBluesky🏺
Statue of a Molossian hound. Roman copy after a Hellenistic bronze original thought to date to the second century BCE; the muzzle and one leg are restorations. The dog sits and gazes up to the sky with its mouth slightly open.
We aren't the only ones to mourn pets, the Romans did too! They could be just as sad as anyone alive today when their dog died.
From poetic epitaphs to funerary monuments, beloved dogs were honoured by the Romans who cherished them.
#CheekyFacts #AncientRome #AncientBluesky🏺
We’re celebrating the release of our new book ‘Your Cheeky Guide to the Roman Empire’ all this month! These #CheekyFacts posts are just a taste of some of the great stories we explore 😁
ulyssespress.com/books/your-c...
Composite image with a bust of Augustus on the left and a bust of Livia on the right. They are both in the Augustan style with subtle agelessness. Augustus’ hair has the distinction parting of curls in the fringe while Livia wears her hair with a rolled front fringe with curls around her face.
Augustus is infamous for his moral legislation but that does not mean he was a paragon of virtue.
He and Livia met at a party when she was about six months pregnant. Both were married to other people.
But by the time Livia gave birth,
she was married to Augustus!
#AncientBluesky🏺 #CheekyFacts
Illustration of Numa with Egeria by Bridget Clarke and featured in our book ‘Rex: The Seven Kings of Rome’. Egeria and Numa sit together contemplating ideas while in the forest. The words: pious, philosophical, and peaceful appear as part of the illustration indicating some of the qualities Numa was known for as king.
How to Rule Rome: Tip #2
If you’re not sure the people will accept a change you’d like to make, soften the blow by saying a deity advised you it was the best path.
Source: The Journal of Numa,
king of the Romans
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Domenico Beccafumi 1535. Gaius Servilius Ahala presenting the body of Spurius Maelius to Cincinnatus. The painting shows Cincinnatus as an old man ruling as dictator. Ahala stands with a sword gesturing behind him to the corpse of Maelius. A crowd stands around watching.
Early Rome was a city of challenges and opportunities. Spurius Maelius did the Romans a huge favour by buying up lots of grain (at massively inflated prices) and distributing it for free to help prevent famine. Can you believe such an act would make a man enemies?
#CheekyFacts #AncientBluesky🏺
Photograph of a section of Hadrian’s wall which shows it following a ridge line. There’s a path next to it where visitors can walk along that has been created by many feet walking a similar line.
The Romans loved a good wall. So much so that by the time of Hadrian’s imperial rule (117-138 CE), Rome had constructed over 10,000 kilometres of walls 😮
That’s longer than the distance between New York and Moscow!
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This cameo shows Shapur the First capturing Valerian in battle. Both are on horseback. The cameo is Roman in style but celebrates the victory of Shapur making it unusual and suggesting the commission came from a Sasanian client. Different coloured layers of the stone were used to create the cameo. The background is dark, the figures are white and details are again dark again as they are on the highest level. Held by the Bibliothèque nationale de France, inv. No. Camée 360. The cameo is thought to date to about 260 CE.
In the third century, Roman armies were routinely embarrassed by Shapur I, the ‘king of the kings’ of the Sasanians. Shapur defeated Gordian III, forced the Roman emperor Philip I to pay blood money, and reportedly used Valerian as a footstool!
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Description from Ancient World Encyclopaedia: “This is an artistic 3D impression of what the Battle of Teutoburg Forest (September, 9 CE) may have looked like. Germanic tribesmen led by Arminius wear down the Roman column, as its general Varus is trying to lead it back to safety. The engagement ended in a crushing Roman defeat.”
The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest was a devastating loss for the Romans.
But let’s not forget Arminius’ charisma. Arminius was the trusted Germanic officer who was instrumental in organising the ambush that would make Augustus cry.
#CheekyFacts #AncientRome #AncientBluesky🏺
Bust of Julia the Elder. She has a distinctive hairstyle with rolled and pinned back fringe. From the Musée Saint-Raymond Toulouse.
Julia the Elder was Augustus’ only biological child. Julia did her duty and had six children, but nothing (not even daddy) was going to stop her from having a good time!
When Augustus found out, he made her pay the price with exile…
#CheekyFacts #AncientRome #AncientBluesky🏺
A selection of three phallic amulets characterised by a phallus with a ring on the shaft to create a way to wear the phallic object on a necklace of some kind.
#PhallusThursday #CheekyFacts
Dedicated followers are well aware that the Romans used phallic objects to ward off the evil eye and enhance their good fortune.
Indeed, wearing a fascinus 'a phallic amulet' is an ideal way to protect yourself ancient Roman style!
Detail from the bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius in the Piazza del Campidoglio, Rome. He sits clothed astride a horse while raising his left arm up.
Marcus Aurelius is one of the most famous Roman emperors because of his philosophical text The Meditations.
The philosophy of Greece was popular in Rome, but did you know that Marcus Aurelius' philosophy tutor was from Numidia (north Africa)?
#CheekyFacts #AncientRome #History #AncientBluesky🏺
Equestrian statue identified as the emperor Gaius (more infamously known as Caligula) held in the British Museum. Caligula is heroically nude with only a cloak offering some slight coverage across the chest and back. He sits astride a horse.
Caligula famously threatened to make his horse, Incitatus, a consul, but didn't go through with it.
But perhaps it should be more widely known that Caligula *did* appoint Incitatus a priest of his personal cult.
No neigh-sayers please!
#CheekyFacts #AncientRome
#AncientBluesky🏺
Pulp fiction cover for ‘Messalina’ by Jack Oleck. Additional text reads ‘A scorching, magnificent novel of imperial Rome.’ Messalina is depicted aa a powerful sensual figure with a revealing dress, whip, and staring directly at the viewer while holding a goblet of wine and wearing lots of jewellery. Behind her two Roman soldiers are blowing on trumpets.
Messalina is famous/infamous for her marriage to the emperor Claudius, but did you know she was also related to him?
Turns out Claudius’ penchant for relatives didn’t start with Agrippina… Messalina had ancestry going back to Mark Antony AND Augustus!
#CheekyFacts #AncientRome #AncientBluesky🏺
A view of the aqueduct in Segovia where it still stands strikingly in the cityscape and beyond.
Did you know that the ancient Roman aqueduct in Segovia, Spain built in the first century CE was still in use until 1973?
That's just shy of two thousand years of water supply. Yes, Roman engineering was THAT good!
#CheekyFacts #AncientRome #History #AncientBluesky🏺
Text on a black background reads: ‘ROMAN EMPIRE CHEEKY FACTS. Marcus Licinius Crassus may have been the richest man in Rome, but that's no guarantee that the gods are on your side! In Parthia, one disturbing portent was that a golden eagle standard became stuck fast in the ground and needed the strength of many soldiers to dislodge it. Seems like the standard was not rating Crassus' chances of victory...’
Not even magnificent wealth can save you from the gods. We’re looking at you, Crassus 👀
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