5 Things You Didn't Know: Rome

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Caligula also announced that he had metamorphosed into Jove, the chief god. He declared war on Neptune, sending his soldiers to attack the sea with swords and catapults, and he “lived in habitual incest with all his sisters.” Later, “at one of his more sumptuous banquets he suddenly burst into a fit of laughter, and when the consuls, who were reclining next to him, politely inquired at what he was laughing, [Caligula] replied: ‘Isn’t it funny? At a single nod of mine both of you could have your throats cut on the spot.’” Apparently, it wasn’t that funny: Various government officials stabbed Caligula to death at the age of 29.



4- Roman husbands kissed their wives to make sure they weren't drunk

5- The city of Rome has a belly button

Roman husbands kissed their wives on the mouth at the end of the day, but their motives were not at all romantic — they were checking their spouses’ breath to see if they had been sitting around drinking wine all day. Not that the men could throw stones as far as fidelity was concerned — the orator, Cicero, once attacked Julius Caesar with the remark that he was “every woman’s husband and every man’s wife.”In love with the idea of order and tidiness, the emperor Augustus had a “Golden Milestone” constructed in the city of Rome on which were listed the distances to all the major cities in the empire. The emperor Constantine later referred to this as the Umbilicus Urbis Romae — or the “navel of Rome.” It was also the origin of the saying “all roads lead to Rome.” Just how many roads were there? A whole lot: The Romans built over 54,000 miles of roads around the Mediterranean basin. For comparison, as of 2004, the U.S. Interstate Highway System included about 47,000 miles of paved roadway.

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