Rom
8 cards from across every topic, each citing a source. Tap one to open it in the feed.
- How Roman aqueducts moved water without pumps.
An aqueduct is essentially a channel many kilometres long with a tiny gradient: the line to Nîmes drops only 12.6 …
- Kaiser and Tsar are the same man: Caesar.
After Julius Caesar, Roman rulers carried 'Caesar' as part of their title; from Diocletian onwards it marked the …
- Roman toilet paper: a sponge on a stick.
In Roman latrines, people sat side by side on long stone benches with holes. For cleaning they used a xylospongium, a …
- The Colosseum is named after a statue that is long gone.
The building went up between roughly 70 and 80 AD and held 50,000 to 80,000 spectators. In antiquity it was simply …
- The vomitorium was not a room for vomiting.
The story that Romans threw up in special rooms during banquets so they could keep eating is a modern invention. A …
- Thumbs down was invented by a painter in 1872.
Roman sources only say "pollice verso", with a turned thumb – which gesture meant which outcome is unclear. Our mental …
- Why Roman concrete still stands after 2,000 years.
The Pantheon in Rome has carried an unreinforced concrete dome 43 metres across since the year 125. In 2023, an MIT …
- Why September means 'seventh month' but is the ninth.
The early Roman calendar began in March and had only ten months; winter was left unnamed. September, October, November …