There are not many well-preserved great cities in the world, whose history begins before our era, but they have not turned into ruins, and still amaze the imagination with their architecture, museums, and memorable places. It is not for nothing that the common name of the capital of Ancient Rome and the current Republic of Italy is the Eternal City. Interesting facts about Ancient Rome, a powerful state that in many ways served as the basis of modern Western civilization, always attract the attention of even sophisticated readers, including those who were lucky enough to visit there.
From kingdom through republic to empire
This is how the history of Ancient Rome sounds like a cheat sheet for the exam. The beginning is the founding of Rome by the “illegitimate” son of the god Mars, Romulus, who had previously killed his brother Remus in the struggle for the right to found the Eternal City. This legendary event took place in 753 BC. e. Further until 476 AD. BC, when the Roman Empire finally fell, a huge number of events occurred:
- The basis of the original population of ancient Rome were criminals, exiles from other cities in nearby lands. Very reminiscent of the history of the settlement of the USA and Australia, where enlightened sailors exiled criminals of all stripes.
- When they lacked female attention, they kidnapped Sabine women. When there was no money, they raided neighboring villages.
- But common sense, pointing to the dead-end path of such development of Ancient Rome, prevailed over the purely aggressive method of development, and in parallel, various crafts and trade began to rapidly develop.
- Even during the tsarist period of rule, stable power structures were created, such as the Senate and the institution of lictors. The reign of the last king, who tired the freedom-loving people of Rome with his tyranny, ended in 509 BC. e. creation of the Roman Republic. An interesting fact is that the area of the territory that belonged to the Eternal City of that period of history, according to historical evidence and the results of archaeological excavations, was no more than 900 sq km of land located along the banks of the Tiber River.
- It took the Roman Republic exactly 240 years to expand its sovereign land area to cover the entire territory of Italy. Of course, this was a story of conquest. They forged the invincible Roman army, the principles of construction, management, and supply of which were reflected in the creation of even modern troops. Not everything was always smooth. One day, the newly emerging power of the republic was defeated by the Gauls who invaded the lands of Italy, as a result of which Rome was burned.
- But the city was rebuilt again, and the lands were recaptured. The true heyday of Ancient Rome is associated with the period of the empire - the dominant state for all of Europe and northern Africa. It was the only state entity that owned all the lands of the Mediterranean coast, which cannot but impress.
The period of the Roman Empire dates back to 27 AD. e., when the Julio-Claudian dynasty came to power, the founder of which is considered the famous Julius Caesar. The main significant events, reflected in historical documents and works of art that popularize Ancient Rome during its heyday and subsequent fall, date back to this time.
An interesting fact about Julius Caesar, who, contrary to popular belief, was not the first emperor of Rome, but its dictator, is that back in 63 BC. e. he was chosen as Pontifex Maximus, i.e. occupied the highest priestly position, later from 440 AD. e. who became known as the Pope in the Catholic Church, which replaced the polytheism of pagan Rome.
Gladiatorial fights in ancient Rome
No matter how high the moral foundations of any society, the authorities always try to give bread and circuses to the democratic majority within the necessary limits. Otherwise, conspiracies, uprisings, and revolutions will certainly begin, which are absolutely unnecessary for the ruling class. From public executions to humorous TV shows, all means are good.
In ancient Rome, excellent entertainment for the crowd was athletic competitions and horse racing in stadiums; gladiatorial fights held in specially equipped halls and buildings - amphitheaters. The latter were introduced officially as public spectacles in 106 BC. e., and the state took care of their implementation.
The most grandiose building for holding bloody fights between people and predatory animals was the Colosseum in Rome:
- The colossus of ancient architecture, which received its name because of its size, accommodated, according to modern estimates, more than 50 thousand spectators. Although historical records mention 87 thousand enthusiastic visitors who wanted to witness the bloody battles.
- The construction of the huge amphitheater, which lasted eight years, was completed in 80 AD. e. Enormous amounts of money were invested in it.
- The external dimensions of the structure, built in the shape of an ellipse, are amazing - 524 by 188 m, the internal arena is 86 by 54 m. The height of the walls reaches 50 m.
- This is the fruit of the efforts of the imperial Flavian dynasty from Vespasian to Titus, which ruled in those years. The latter consecrated the Colosseum, after which games began there, including gladiator fights, beloved by all the Roman people.
The decline of the Colosseum's popularity came in 405, when gladiator fights were banned throughout the Roman Empire as contrary to Christian morality. Currently, the Colosseum is an easily recognizable, undisputed symbol of Rome, one of the most frequently visited tourist sites in Europe.
Foundations of Civilization
Interesting historical facts about Ancient Rome that give an idea of the influence it had on the destinies of the whole world:
- Roman law. One of the sources of the modern legal system, a subject studied in law schools. The basic principle of Roman law is that the state is the result of an agreement between citizens. It still sounds relevant today.
- Newspapers, bound pages of books, the Julian calendar are a significant contribution to the future of the human community.
- The official language of Ancient Rome was Latin, without knowledge of which it is difficult to imagine modern doctors, lawyers, and biologists.
- Field surgery, which saved many lives of Roman legionnaires, is still relevant today.
- Architecture. Some solutions and their implementations, including those that are perfectly preserved, still amaze the imagination. For example, the famous Pantheon in Rome, which has a dome with a diameter of more than 43 m, was built in 126 AD. e. Looking at it, it is difficult to imagine that such a grandiose building could stand for many centuries, despite the fall of Rome, numerous wars, barbarians of all times and peoples, earthquakes, which are not uncommon in Italy.
- Many engineering solutions, both borrowed from the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, and invented in Ancient Rome. For example, mills driven by a water wheel, throwing siege and defensive military equipment.
- Construction solutions. Aqueducts built before our era still regularly supply water to the cities of Italy.
Fountains, of which there are a huge number in Rome, the use of concrete, roads that do not need to be repaired every year are only a small part of the heritage of the ancient Romans.
Capital of Christendom
The famous phrase attributed to Henry I of Navarre, who renounced Protestantism in favor of Catholicism, that Paris is worth a mass, applies to a much greater extent specifically to Rome:
- After all, on the lands of this ancient state, which included Jerusalem, all the biblical events associated with Jesus Christ took place.
- In Rome there is the Vatican State with the Holy See of the Pope - the head of the Catholic Church.
- The concept of the Roman Mass appeared here in the first centuries of our era with the advent of Christianity.
Without diminishing the importance of the Protestant and Orthodox Church, it was the Catholic Church that was both the decisive factor in the inexorable spread of Christianity throughout the world and served the exaltation of Ancient Rome.
However, even now the Church of St. Peter, the Vatican Museums, numerous Catholic churches in the Eternal City work like a powerful electromagnet, attracting iron filings - pilgrims, tourists from all over the world, who are ready to spend a lot of money to worship Christian shrines, to see the historical, architectural beauty, and unusualness of Rome.
1. in Napoleon's army, soldiers could address the generals as "you".
2. In Rus', grasshoppers were called dragonflies.
3. punishment with rods was abolished in Russia only in 1903.
4. The "Hundred Years' War" lasted 116 years.
5. What we call the Caribbean crisis, the Americans call the Cuban crisis, and the Cubans themselves call the October crisis.
6. The shortest war in history was the war between Great Britain and Zanzibar on August 27, 1896. It lasted exactly 38 minutes.
7. The first atomic bomb dropped on Japan was on a plane called the Enola Gay. The second is on the Bock's Car plane.
8. Under Peter I in Russia, a special department was created to receive petitions and complaints, which was called ... racketeering.
9. On June 4, 1888, the New York State Congress passed a bill to abolish hanging execution. The reason for this “Humane” act was the introduction of a new method of death penalty - the electric chair. 10. According to an agreement concluded between the engineer Gustave Eiffel and the city authorities of Paris, in 1909 the Eiffel Tower was to be dismantled and sold for scrap.
11. The Spanish Inquisition persecuted many groups of the population, but most of all the Cathars, Marranos and Moriscos. The Cathars are followers of the Albigensian heresy, the Marranos are baptized Jews, and the Moriscos are baptized Muslims.
12. The first Japanese to come to Russia was Denbei, the son of a merchant from Osaka. His ship washed up on the shores of Kamchatka in 1695. In 1701 he reached Moscow. Peter I assigned him to teach Japanese to several teenagers. 13. Only in 1947 in England was the position of the person who was supposed to fire a cannon upon entering England abolished. 14. Guy de Maupassant, Alexandre Dumas, Charles Gounod, Lecomte de Lisle and many other cultural figures signed the famous protest against ... “The deformation of Paris by the Eiffel Tower.”
15. When the famous German physicist Albert Einstein died, his last words went with him. The nurse next to him did not understand a word of German. 16. In the Middle Ages, students were forbidden to carry knives, swords and pistols and to appear on the street after 21 o’clock, because ... this posed a great danger to the townspeople.
17. On the gravestone of the monument to Suvorov it is simply written: “Here Lies Suvorov.” 18. Between the two world wars, France underwent more than 40 different governments. 19. For the last 13 centuries, the imperial throne in Japan has been occupied by the same dynasty.
20. One of the American planes in Vietnam hit itself with a missile fired. 21. The mad Roman emperor Caligula once decided to declare war on the god of the seas - Poseidon, after which he ordered his soldiers to randomly throw their spears into the water. By the way, from the Roman "Caligula" means "little shoe." 22. Abdul Kassim Ismail - the great vizier of Persia (10th century) was always near his library. Only if he went somewhere did the library “Follow” him. 117 thousand book volumes were transported by four hundred camels. Moreover, the books (i.e. camels) were arranged in alphabetical order.
23. Now nothing is impossible. If you want to buy a car in Guryevsk, please, if you want, in another city. But the fact remains that it needs to be registered and license plates obtained. So, the very first license plate was attached to his car by the Berlin merchant Rudolf Duke. This happened in 1901. There were only three characters on his license plate - IA1 (IA are the initials of his young wife Johanna Anker, and the one means that she is his first and only.
24. at the end of the evening prayer on the ships of the Russian imperial fleet, the watch commander commanded “cover yourself!”, which meant putting on hats, and at the same time the all-clear signal for prayer was given. This prayer usually lasted 15 minutes. 25. In 1914, the German colonies were inhabited by 12 million people, and the British colonies - almost 400 million. 26. In the entire history of temperature recording in Russia, the coldest winter was the winter of 1740.
27. In the modern army, the rank of cornet corresponds to an ensign, and the rank of lieutenant corresponds to a lieutenant.
28. The Thai national anthem was written in 1902 by Russian composer Pyotr Shurovsky.
29. Until 1703, clean ponds in Moscow were called... filthy ponds.
30. The first book published in England was dedicated to... chess. 31. World population in 5000 BC. e. was 5 million people.
32. In ancient China, people committed suicide by eating a pound of salt. 33. A list of gifts to Stalin in honor of his seventieth birthday was published in Soviet newspapers from December 1949 to March 1953.
34. Nicholas I gave his officers a choice between a guardhouse and listening to Glinka's operas as punishment. 35. Above the entrance to Aristotle’s Lyceum there was an inscription: “Entrance Here Is Open To Anyone Who Wants To Dispel Plato’s Misconceptions.”
36. The third decree after the “Decree on Peace” and the “Decree on Land” issued by the Bolsheviks was the “decree on spelling”. 37. During the eruption of Mount Vesuvius on August 24, 79, in addition to the well-known city of Pompeii, the cities of Herculaneum and Stabiae also perished.
38. Nazi Germany - “Third Reich”, Hohenzoller Empire (1870-1918) - “Second Reich”, Holy Roman Empire - “First Reich”.
39. In the Roman army, soldiers lived in tents of 10 people. At the head of each tent was a senior person, who was called... the dean. 40. A tightly tightened corset and a large number of bracelets on the arms in England during the Tudor reign were considered a sign of virginity.
41. FBI agents received the right to carry weapons only in 1934, 26 years after the founding of the FBI.
42. Until the Second World War in Japan, any touch of the emperor was considered blasphemy.
43. On February 16, 1568, the Spanish Inquisition imposed a death sentence on all residents of the Netherlands. 44. In 1911, in China, braids were recognized as a sign of feudalism and therefore wearing them was prohibited.
45. The first party card of the CPSU belonged to Lenin, the second to Brezhnev (the third to Suslov, and the fourth to Kosygin.
46. The American Physical Culture League, the first nudist organization in the United States, was founded on December 4, 1929. 47. In 213 BC. e. Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang gave the order to burn all the books in the country.
48. In Madagascar in 1610, King Ralambo created the state of Imerin, which means “As far as the eye can see.”
49. The first Russian saints were Boris and Gleb, canonized in 1072.
50. one of the punishments for criminals in ancient India was... mutilation of the ears.
51. Of the 266 people who occupied the papal throne, 33 died a violent death.
52. In Rus', a stick was used to beat a witness in order to achieve the truth. 53. In normal weather, the Romans wore a tunic, and when cold weather set in, they wore several tunics.
54. in ancient Rome, a group of slaves belonging to one person was called ... a surname. 55. The Roman Emperor Nero married a man - one of his slaves named Scorus.
56. Until 1361, legal proceedings in England were conducted exclusively in French. 57. Having accepted the surrender, the Soviet Union did not sign peace with Germany, that is, it remained at war with Germany. The war with Germany ended on January 21, 1955 with the adoption of a corresponding decision by the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the USSR. However, May 9 is considered victory day - the day the act of unconditional surrender of Germany was signed.
58. The eruption of the Mexican volcano Paricutin lasted 9 years (from 1943 to 1952. During this time, the volcano’s cone rose 2774 meters. 59. To date, archaeologists have discovered in the territory associated with ancient Troy, traces of nine fortresses - settlements that existed in different times era.
1. Albert Einstein could have become president. In 1952, he was offered the post of second president of Israel, but he refused.
2. Kim Jong Il was a good composer and the Korean leader composed 6 operas throughout his life.
3. The Leaning Tower of Pisa has always been inclined. In 1173, the team building the Leaning Tower of Pisa noticed that the base was curved. Construction stopped for almost 100 years, but the structure was never straight.
4. Arabic numerals were not invented by Arabs, but by Indian mathematicians.
5. Before alarm clocks were invented, there was a profession that involved waking up other people in the morning. For example, a person would shoot dried peas at other people's windows to wake them up for work.
Read also: The biggest mistakes in history
6. Grigory Rasputin survived many assassination attempts in one day. They tried to poison him, shoot him and stab him, but he managed to survive. In the end, Rasputin died in the cold river.
7. The shortest war in history lasted less than an hour. The Anglo-Zanzibar War lasted 38 minutes.
8. The longest war in history occurred between the Netherlands and the Scilly Archipelago. The war lasted 335 years from 1651 to 1989, and both sides suffered no casualties.
By the 20th century, humanity had reached unprecedented heights: we discovered electricity, conquered the skies and the depths of the sea, learned to heal many diseases, quickly transmit messages over vast distances, we even conquered space and nuclear energy. However, along with these achievements, the 20th century can be called the peak of the madness of the human race, when with their reckless behavior people practically brought themselves to the brink of destruction in two world wars...
Almost 80% of Soviet men born in 1923 died in the Great Patriotic War. 
Ivan Burylov, who wrote the word “comedy” on the ballot, received 8 years in the camps, 1949. 
The husband is a Protestant, the wife is a Catholic. The community did not allow them to be buried in the same cemetery. Holland, 1888. 
The creator of the popular cartoon "Shrek" William Steig based his character on professional wrestler Maurice Tillet 
In 1859, 24 rabbits were released into the wild in Australia. Over 6 years, their number increased to 6,000,000 individuals... 
A note from Yuri Gagarin, written after his flight around the Earth. 
King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland George V and his brother - Emperor of All Russia Nicholas II. 
The first photograph on Earth. 
The diameter of Soviet cigarettes is 7.62 mm, the same as the caliber of the cartridge. There is a widespread myth that the entire production was set up so that in 2 hours it would be ready to produce cartridges. 
Afghanistan 1973 and 2016. 
"Give me 5 years and you won't recognize Germany." - A. Hitler 
John Rockefeller dreamed of earning $100 thousand and living to be 100 years old. And he earned $192 billion and died at 97. Not all dreams come true. 
Terry Savchuk - the face of a hockey goalie when a mask was not yet a mandatory attribute, 1966. 
Mortgage - definition in the Soviet dictionary. 
Women's Minister Angela Merkel and Chancellor Kohl. 1991 And then 10 years later she fired him. 
Stalin's son Yakov Dzhugashvili in German captivity, 1941. Later he was killed in a prison camp - his father refused to exchange him for captured German generals. 
Public execution by guillotine, France, 1939. 
Australia in the mid-20th century. Very soon the USSR will send Gagarin into space. 
A hotel manager pours acid into a pool full of blacks, 1964. USA. 
Auschwitz concentration camp is the same oven in which people were burned. 
In 1938, Stalin invited the pilot Valery Chkalov to head the NKVD. However, Chkalov refused.
In the 5th century BC. The Spartan commander Pausanias betrayed his homeland to the Persians. The betrayal was discovered, and the court decided to execute the traitor. Pausanias hid in the temple of the goddess Athena, knowing that murder on the temple grounds was considered sacrilege. However, the Spartans still found a way out: they walled up Pausanias in the temple.
All theater in pre-Aeschylean Ancient Greece was a “one-man theater”: one person played all the roles. Aeschylus introduced a second actor, and Sophocles a third.
Alexander the Great was very handsome, but two things spoiled the matter: his short height - only one and a half meters and the habit of tilting his head to the right and looking as if into the distance.
Modern ophthalmologists are inclined to believe that the king suffered from a rare vision pathology called “Brown syndrome.” In Pompeii, where there were barely 20 thousand inhabitants, seven brothels were discovered during excavations, some of them also served as taverns, others as barbers.
In the Middle Ages, beds in noble houses were necessarily equipped with a canopy on four posts. The fact is that the windows of that time did not have glass, and therefore there were severe drafts in the bedrooms.
Railroad tracks in Europe were laid on cart tracks left over from the times of the ancient Romans. The distance between the wheels of Roman carts was standard: two horse rears.
The Danish king Niels, who reigned in the 12th century (1104-1134), had the smallest army ever to exist in the world. It consisted of... 7 people - his personal assistants. With this army, Nils ruled Denmark for 30 years, during which time Denmark also included parts of Sweden and Norway, as well as some parts of Northern Germany.
Nicholas II only had the military rank of colonel. Napoleon slept through the Battle of Waterloo. He was tormented by hemorrhoids, which were treated with enemas with an anesthetic that caused severe drowsiness. Bonaparte fell asleep before the battle, and no one dared to wake him up until the very critical moment.
The place and role of historical facts in the process of cognition is determined by the fact that only on the basis of these “building blocks” can hypotheses be put forward and theories built. There is no single definition of a historical fact. The most common interpretations of the term “historical fact” are:
- it is an objective event or phenomenon of the past;
- these are traces of the past, i.e. images that are captured in historical documents.
Many scientists (A.P. Pronshtein, I.N. Danilevsky, M.A. Varshavchik) identified three categories of historical facts: objectively existing facts of reality, located within a certain spatio-temporal framework and possessing materiality (historical events, phenomena and processes as such); facts reflected in sources, information about the event; “scientific facts” obtained and described by a historian.
In the interpretation of M.A. Barga, the concept of “historical fact” has several meanings. Firstly, a historical fact as a fragment of historical reality, which has “chronological completeness and ontological inexhaustibility.” Secondly, “source message”; thirdly, a “scientific-historical fact” - in its “cognitive incompleteness, in content variability, cumulativeness, ability for endless enrichment and development” together with the development of “historical science” itself.
A scientific-historical fact is a historical fact that has become the object of activity of a scientist historian; the result of inference based on traces left by the past. These facts are always subjective and reflect the position of the scientist, his level of qualifications and education. The educational subject most often presents scientific and historical facts that are described, systematized and explained. Any historical fact can contain the general, the universal, the individual. Taking into account this specificity, in the methodology of teaching history, three groups of facts are conventionally distinguished: fact - event - characterizing the unique, inimitable; fact - phenomenon - reflecting the typical, general; fact - processes - determining the universal. These facts have undergone logical processing and are presented in logical forms: representations (images) contain characteristics of the external side in the form of a description; concepts, ideas, theories that characterize the essence and provide an explanation of the historical past. Facts-processes are presented by description, explanation, assessment.
Every year in May, Mother's Day is celebrated all over the world. On this day, mothers and pregnant women are congratulated and given gifts. Motherhood is an amazing condition, but even women themselves do not know some facts about it:
- The word “mother” sounds approximately the same in all languages: Russian, Chinese and Spanish children call their mother “mama”, English and German children call their mother “mom”. And the secret is simple: the children themselves came up with this word. One of the first syllables that a child utters is “ma”, and it determined the name of the most important person in the life of each of us.
- A woman carries a child for nine months, he is born, the umbilical cord is cut, but his connection with his mother does not end there. During pregnancy, mother and baby exchange cells through the placenta, and these cells sometimes remain in the woman’s body for a very long time.
- Pregnancy causes changes in a woman's brain.
- A child’s successful personal life depends on how close his relationship with his mother was. Scientists believe that it is the mother who instills in the child the ability to love and feel, which helps him build happy relationships with the opposite sex.
- Mothers feel if something happened to the child, even if the latter is already an adult, accomplished person.
- Children know their mother's voice even before they are born. Scientists have conducted a number of studies, which have revealed that the child in the womb reacts to the mother’s voice and does not react at all to outside voices.
Tradition is passed down from generation to generation, ensuring continuity and connection between generations. But with changes in social norms, ways of life, and external conditions, some traditions and rules die out, others are transformed, sometimes turning into their own opposite. It is these ancient traditions that we will consider. 
1. Doctors had a dangerous job in Ancient Babylon - for the death of a patient through the doctor’s fault, the doctor’s hands were cut off. 
2. Before battle, the tribes of the ancient Celts took off their clothes, painted their bodies blue and their hair red. Well, the final touch was tattoos on all surfaces. 
3. The Britons threw hopeless patients off cliffs. 
4. The cities captured by the Persian army had a duty to feed the conquering king with his retinue and troops. This is how Xerxes usually dined with 15 thousand of his “friends” (including his retinue and soldiers). The feast, along with gold and silver dishes, cost the city 100 million dollars in modern prices. Moreover, all the utensils were then given to the conquerors. 
5. For the first time, the idea of “freezing” wounds came to the mind of Galen from Pergamum. To relieve pain from injuries and small wounds, the Gladiator applied a mixture of olive oil, rose petals and wax, which quickly evaporated and gave a cooling effect. 
6. The most common way to commit suicide in 16th century China was to eat a pound of salt. 
7. The whipping boy actually existed. He sat in lessons for a boy from the royal family and received punishments for his crowned companion. 
8. Beer in the Middle Ages had a consistency similar to jelly; it was brewed so thick for better preservation. Later, hops were used as a preservative, and the beer became thinner. 
9. For a long time they did not circulate in Europe because of the church prohibition, according to which it was proposed to eat food given by God, only with the means that He gave. That is, with your fingers. 
10. Every sailor in the old days always had at least one gold tooth in his mouth. He had to pay for a funeral in a foreign land 
11. Ancient traditions attributed the ability to scare away evil spirits to the color blue. That is why the boys were dressed in blue clothes. And for girls, being less valuable, gray and black dresses were enough. It was only in the Middle Ages that the color pink was associated with them. But now children's clothing for boys and girls has all kinds of colors and shades. 
12. In the Middle Ages, a mixture of urine and ash was used as washing powder. 
13. In the 18th century, it became popular among women to shave their eyebrows and instead wear false ones made of mouse fur. 
14. Chimney sweeps traditionally washed only at Christmas, in the fall and in the spring. 
15. The ancient Egyptians not only mummified people, but also many sacred animals - scarabs, crocodiles, cats, birds, etc.
16. In a Washington prison, a dog served 8 years for trying to bite.
17. In 18th-century Britain, playing bagpipes, which were then made from a sheep's stomach, and wearing tartans were punishable by death. And grumpy wives were punished using devices from the article 
18. Since ancient times, women have achieved red color on their lips using crushed insects - cochineal 
19. The pirates had insurance. So Henry Morgan paid 1,500 thalers for the loss of legs, 1,800 for the loss of arms, and 100 for a finger or eye. There was also sick leave in a similar amount. 
20. Scientists suggest that 300 miles from Costa Rica on Cocos Island there remains a pirate base of treasure worth at least $2 billion! 
21. In the ancient Bantu language there are 10-15 genders, and each word can have a different spelling depending not only on the gender, but also on its place in the sentence. But it was from this language that safari, banjo, zombie, samba, etc. came to us.
22. In the Kama Sutra, in addition to describing ways to bring Great Joy, there are 4 chapters about, 2 - about treating a wife, 5 - about finding a wife, 6 - about seducing other people's wives, the same number about mistresses and 2 more about attracting people in general. 
23. The ancient Mayans began their calendar on August 13, 3114 BC, it is calculated until December 21, 2012. We’ll find out what will happen next very soon, especially since
24. On the way from India, Vasco da Gama took spices on board, primarily black pepper. The expedition's profit amounted to 6000%. For the next 20 years, black pepper accounted for 95% of the goods transported to Portugal from India. 
25. The Middle Ages in Europe were rife with epidemics. And the safest drink was beer, since the causative agents of dysentery and cholera did not survive fermentation.
26. The crew of the pirate John Tylor in 1721 managed to capture the Nostra Senora della Cabo, a Portuguese frigate. As a result, each pirate's share amounted to 500,000 gold thalers and 42 large diamonds 
27. The Danish “genever” (juniper) gave the name to the famous drink gin, which was originally classified as a medicinal drug. 
28. Among the Etruscans, odd lines were written from left to right, and even lines were written from right to left. In addition, words were not always separated from one another, but were often written in mirror images. 
29. Queen Elizabeth I of England tried to hide traces of smallpox on her face under a thick layer of white lead and vinegar rubs. 
30. In Ancient Babylon there was a tradition of re-electing a ruler. He came annually to the temple of Marduk, knelt before the statue and declared his sinlessness. At this time, the high priest of Marduk tore off his regalia, whipped the ruler on the cheeks and pulled his ears. If Marduk remained silent, then the king's powers were extended for another year. 
31. At the age of 7, Spartan boys went to military school, where the first thing they did was weave a reed mat for themselves - the only bed for subsequent years. After 13 years of merciless training, the survivors became warriors and moved into general barracks. Soldiers served until they were 60 years old. 
32. In India back in the 6th century BC. practiced plastic surgery. Doctor Sushruta has developed a technique for reconstructing the nose from a piece of skin from the cheek. The particular popularity of rhinoplasty is explained by the widespread use of cutting off the nose for betrayal. 
33. It is believed that Attila died from a nosebleed on his wedding night. He was buried in successive coffins (metal, silver and gold) on a dark night in the wilderness. According to tradition, all funeral participants were then killed. 
34. In the capital of ancient China, Changan, there were many pagodas, temples, the largest Buddha statue and a wide main street (45 modern car lanes) 
35. Chinese Emperor Hongwu experienced a shortage of copper coins in the 14th century. A solution was found quickly - they began to use pieces of paper with special designs as money. Unfortunately, the printing press was not stopped in time, the money depreciated 70 times and it was necessary to return to copper coins. 
36. Among the passengers of the Titanic was the Egyptian princess Amen-Ra. Her mummy was being transported to the United States from the British Museum and during the disaster she drowned.
When most people hear about the ancient world, they automatically think of Ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, Persia, Mesopotamia, China and other great empires of the past. Many people know that Ancient Greece is the cradle of Western philosophy, theater, democracy and the Olympic Games. They heard that the Chinese invented paper and gunpowder, and that Rome created one of the largest and most powerful empires of all time.
However, popular culture is often left in the dark about many other interesting facts about the ancient world, facts that still have great influence on everyday life in the modern world.
Below are facts that are aimed at arousing the reader's interest in this topic, and we hope that you can learn something new and interesting from each point.
10. Feta cheese - the oldest cheese in the world
Feta cheese, made from the milk of sheep and goats, is the national cheese of Greece and today one of the most popular cheeses in the world. However, what most people don't know is that the production of feta cheese dates back to ancient times, and was even discussed in several ancient Greek sources. For example, the famous Cyclops of Odysseus made a cheese from sheep's milk, which is believed to have been feta cheese.
9. The Celts Were Not Barbarians
Greco-Roman writers and historians usually describe the Celts as uncivilized barbarians. There are many historical sources describing the Celtic barbaric practice of human and animal sacrifice.
At the same time, the ancient Greeks and Romans sacrificed animals and sometimes people to the gods, and this was long before the Celts did this. For example, King Agamemnon is famous for sacrificing his daughter, Iphigenia. The ancient Greeks often organized fighting games in which people fought each other to the death for the pleasure of spectators. It is also a well-known fact that the Romans forced their captives to fight each other or fight ferocious wild animals in public arenas. So what right did the Greeks and Romans have to condemn the Celts for being barbarians?
As it turned out, Celtic religious sacrifices were much less cruel and barbaric than many of the massacres initiated by the Romans.
8. The first seismograph was invented in ancient China
Most people think that the seismograph is a product of the Western world, but in fact it is not. Chinese astronomer and literary scholar Zhang Heng invented the world's first instrument for observing earthquakes in 130 AD. The device was able to detect and determine the approximate source of the earthquake. Thus, Zhang Heng is, in fact, the grandfather of the modern seismograph, although no one usually ever remembers his invention.
7. The cappuccino got its name from a crypt in Rome.
The Capuchin Crypt in Rome consists of five chapels, as well as a 60-meter-long corridor, and is decorated with the bones of 4,000 deceased monks. The Catholic order insists that the purpose of the crypt is not to terrorize the common population, but to serve as a quiet reminder of the fragility of our existence and inevitable mortality. The coffee drink cappuccino takes its name from the monks of this order, who were famous for their custom of wearing hoods or “cappucio” in everyday life.
6. India has ancient ties with the West
Contrary to popular belief, India was open to the Western world and its culture long before Great Britain or other colonial powers landed on its shores. Alexander the Great was the first famous person to establish contact between India and the West, or rather its contact with Greek culture and civilization. After his death, communication between Europe and the East was interrupted until the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama sailed to the city of Calicut (now Kozhikode), India in 1498.
5. The Persians were the original "Aryans"
Even though popular culture tends to portray Persians as non-white people, Persians have always thought of themselves as the original Aryans. In Persian, the word "Iran" actually means "Land of the Aryans".
The Medes were of Aryan origin and were also the first people to unite the peoples living in what is now Iran in the sixth century BC. The people of the Magi tribe were powerful priests who preached Zoroastrianism. The most famous representatives of Magi are the Three Wise Men from the Christian story of the birth of Jesus, who, according to the plot, brought gifts to the newborn Christ.
4. The first toast appeared in Ancient Greece
Nowadays, when we make toasts at parties, most of us don't think about where the tradition began, or for what reason. As it turns out, it originated in Ancient Greece. The host of the celebration always took the first sip of the wine to assure the guests that it had not been poisoned - hence the phrase "drink to someone's health."
The tradition of toasting continued in ancient Rome, but with an addition that gave the tradition its current name: The Romans placed a piece of toasted bread in each glass to eliminate unwanted flavors or neutralize excessive acidity. Thus, if today we make toasts for good luck, then in ancient times a toast was a matter of life and death!
3. Origin of tragedy and comedy
Most people already know that comedy and tragedy originated in Greece. However, they seem to ignore how these two terms came to be. The word "tragedy" comes from the Greek word for "goat song" because during early Greek productions of tragedies in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine, the people on stage wore goat skins. Tragedies were noble stories of gods, kings and heroes. On the other hand, comedies, or "festivities", were most often stories about the lives of characters from the lower classes and their hilarious antics.
2. It was in Rome that the commercial center was invented 
The world's first shopping center was built by Emperor Trajan in Rome itself. It consisted of several floors and more than 150 shops that sold everything from food and drinks to clothing and spices. It was also known as Trajan's Market, and was essentially the world's first "modernized" shopping center, at least in concept.
1. People who lived in Mesopotamia were the first to harness nature
Mesopotamia, which largely occupied the territory of modern Iraq, is translated from Greek as “the land between the rivers.” It is often called the "cradle of civilization" because it was where the world's first true civilization flourished.
The Sumerians were able to develop one of the most important contributions to humankind's knowledge of technology - the ability to control the flow of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. When they learned to build dams, they no longer depended on annual floods, but instead had a stable year-round food harvest. As a result of this, the first civilization arose, since the constant presence of food meant that they no longer needed to roam.
Ancient Rome is one of the greatest states of Antiquity. The state was located on the territory of modern. Rome Was named after the founder - Romulus. It was famous for its customs, gladiatorial fights, the Colosseum, Emperors, etc.
- Not far from the gladiator arenas, you could always buy gladiator sweat, as well as animal fat. These substances were used by women as cosmetics.
- Saturnalia- a large annual festival in ancient Rome in honor of the God Saturn. These days, slaves had some privileges, for example, they could dine at the same holiday table with the owner, and sometimes even the owners set the table for the slaves.
- Emperor Claudius was ridiculed for not having sex with men. They said that those who have relationships only with women become effeminate themselves.
- Kiss after the wedding ceremony came to us from Ancient Rome. But then a kiss was considered not just a beautiful tradition, but a kind of seal confirming the marriage contract.
- The expression “return to one’s native land” means “to return to one’s home.” This expression comes from Ancient Rome, but it must be pronounced a little differently, “return to your native Penates,” since the Penates are the guardian gods of the hearth. In every house there hung images of penates.
- In Ancient Rome, the Goddess Juno bore the title "Coin", which meant "Counselor". Near her temple there were workshops where metal money was minted, so they also began to be called coins. Also from this word comes the common English name for all money “money”.
- Spinthria- These are ancient Roman coins with images of sexual intercourse. These coins were made specifically to be used as payment in brothels.
- Emperor Caligula once declared war on Neptune (the Sea God) and ordered spears to be thrown into the sea. He was also known for introducing his horse into the Senate.
- Leap year introduced.
- In the Roman armies, people lived in tents of 10 people. In each tent there was a leader, who was called the Dean.
- If the patient died during the operation, the doctor's hands were cut off.
- About 40% of the ancient Roman population were slaves.
- The Colosseum was the largest arena and could accommodate more than 200,000 spectators.
- After the death of the emperor, an eagle was released to carry his soul to heaven. The eagle was a symbol of the God Jupiter.
- The ancient Romans were the first to make toilets. Emperor Vespasian even came up with a urine tax. The point was that initially not all toilets were connected to a common drain, but there were containers underground that filled up over time. This is what the tax was levied on. By the way, after this he also managed to sell this urine to tanners and laundresses for various household needs. By the way, it was after this that the expression “Money doesn’t smell” came about.
