17 Interesting Facts About Rome

Rome is magnificent and brutal at the same time. It’s a showcase of Western civilization, with astonishingly ancient views and a modern vibrancy. Rome is a magnificent tangled urban forest. This city of beautiful chaos is Italy’s political capital, the capital of Catholicism, and the center of its ancient empire, littered with evocative remains. As you peel through its fascinating and jumbled layers, you’ll find Rome’s buildings, cats, laundry, traffic, and 2.7 million people endlessly entertaining. If you are a tourist in Rome, you must visit St. Peter’s, the greatest church on earth, learn something about eternity by touring the huge Vatican Museums, do the “Caesar Shuffle” through ancient Rome’s Forum and Colosseum, savor the Borghese Gallery, and take an early evening stroll with Rome’s beautiful people. If you are planning a visit to this magnificent city, you must know these very interesting and amazing facts about this Eternal City, Rome:

image: thetimes.co.uk

1. Founded By Twin Brothers Nursed By She-Wolf

The two twin brothers were named Romulus and Remus and were abandoned soon after their birth. They were discovered by a she-wolf on the banks of the Tiber, who took them in and fed them. Eventually, the boys grew up to found a city. But like brothers, they had an argument about who would be the ruler of their new city, and Remus was killed. Romulus became ruler and named the city after himself: Rome.
source: eatingitalyfoodtours.com, image: crystalinks.com

2. Origin Of Shopping Mall

The first-ever shopping mall was built by Emperor Trajan in Rome. It consisted of several levels and more than 150 outlets that sold everything ranging from food and spices to clothes.
source: factretriever.com

3. What’s SPQR!

SPQR stands for “Senatus Populusque Romanus” and means “The senate and the people of Rome.” The symbol is still seen all over the city today.
source: aroundrometours.com, image: sov.gnomio.com

4. All Roads Lead To Rome!

The Romans had built a road network of 53,000 miles by the early fourth century. Each Roman mile was about 4,800 feet and marked by a milestone, giving birth to the saying “All roads lead to Rome.”
source: worldstrides.com

5. Make Money From Trevi Fountain

It is interesting to note that around €3,000 are thrown into this iconic water place every day, mainly by tourists keen to pay heed to the idea that if you toss a coin over your left shoulder and into the fountain, using your right hand, you will return to the city.
source: telegraph.co.uk, image: trevifountain.net

6. 24 Hours A Day Or 12 Hours A Day?

Like us, the Romans divided the day into 24 hours. But unlike us, their hours varied in length. For the Romans, there were always 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. As a result, a daytime hour in hot summer was considerably longer than one in midwinter month.
source: historyextra.com

7. Countless Churches

There are cities in the world that have a greater number of churches when you include mosques, temples and other houses of worship. However, Rome is home to more than 900 Christian churches, which is currently more than any other city.
source: darkrome.com, image: Wikimedia.org

8. World’s Smallest State!

Rome has world’s smallest state located entirely within its city limits. It is the Vatican City, which is a sovereign state inside Rome. Inside the Vatican City, you can find 11 Vatican Museums with the restored Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel and beautiful Vatican Gardens. The Vatican museum is the largest museum complex in the world as it consists of over 1000 museums.
source: mediterranean-cruise-ports-easy.com, image: Wikimedia.org

9. Purple Is The Royal Color!

Purple clothing was a status symbol and reserved only for emperors or senators. To achieve the color, a dye was made from murex seashells. It was treason for anyone other than the emperor to dress completely in purple.
source: buzzfeed.com

10. The Toga!

The Toga is unique to male Romans. It is worn as a mark of distinction that is basically to signify that the wearer was free-born or non-slave.
source: escapehere.com, image: durand-digitalgallery.com

11. Don’t Miss The Colosseum

The Colosseum or Flavian Amphitheater is an amphitheater built during the time of Roman Empire in Rome, Italy. It is widely believed that Colosseum was the biggest and grandest amphitheater in the entire Roman Empire. It is so big that it can easily accommodate around eighty thousand spectators.
source: historyforkids.net, image: worldbeautifulplace.com, image: i2.cdn.turner.com

12. Cats Have Special Rights!

One of the cutest facts about Rome that may surprise you is that it’s a city full of cats: you can find them anywhere and everywhere climbing, sleeping and just being cats. Also, there is a reason for that; there is a strict law that protects them and their freedom to enjoy the city, and there are organizations that take care and feed them. There’s an estimate of 180.000 free living cats in Rome!
source: gowithoh.com, image: 3.bp.blogspot.com

13. Life Was Just 20-30 Years!

It is a known fact that the life expectancy of people in ancient Rome was just 20-30 years.
source: factslides.com

14. When Slaves Became Masters!

The ancient Roman people celebrated a festival every year which was ‘Saturnalia.’ On that day, the slaves and their masters switched their places.
source: factslides.com

15. The 7 Hills That Go Alphabetically!

There are 7 hills located in Rome which are quite famous there. These are named in alphabetical order, the Aventine, Caelian, Capitoline, Esquiline, Palatine, Quirinal and Viminal. But, the 21st century has added a lot many hills to this list.
source: telegraph.co.uk, image: wikimedia.org

16. What Is Saturnalia

Saturnalia was an ancient Roman festival in honor of deity Saturn. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn. On this day, slaves and their masters would switch places, gambling was permitted, and masters provided table service for their slaves.
source: Wikipedia 

17. Can You Imagine?

Urine was used in Ancient Rome to wash clothes and Ancient Romans would use Urine even to whiten their teeth.
source: factslides.com