3/21/2023 0 Comments Common roman coins battle scene![]() ![]() ![]() It might be hard for us to imagine doing without the humble desk: military commanders sit behind them, scribes and scholars write at them. It was probably not used as a casual greeting, though: Romans preferred to embrace, or even kiss, when they met, just as people in Mediterranean societies do to this day. It was also, apparently, part of the wedding ritual. The handshake even appears on Roman coins, symbolising trust and mutual concord. Romans shook hands in the same way as we do, although perhaps not as frequently it was a gesture of fellowship, used to agree deals and treaties. The manly clasp of forearms turns up all over the place, but has no basis in historical fact. In fact, the French were still using chained prisoners to row their galleys until the eighteenth century. Galley slaves did exist, but not until centuries later medieval ships of both the Christian and Islamic Mediterranean powers used them extensively. Roman oarsmen were paid professionals, and those in the navy were enlisted in the armed forces. So here are ten things that the Romans (probably) did not have – I say probably, as our ideas about the past are constantly being updated!ĭespite the famous scenes in old films like Ben Hur and Cleopatra, Roman galleys were not rowed by chained slaves. So many notions about ancient or other historical societies are deeply rooted, and hard to dislodge. Historical novelists, of course, generally try to avoid falling into such traps, but it’s surprising how often I’ve had to think twice about some detail or other of the world I’m describing. They rode horses without stirrups, and sweetened their food with honey as they had no sugar.īut there are still a lot of mistaken ideas about things the Romans had or commonly did. Potatoes, for example, or tomatoes, or universal suffrage. There were plenty of things the citizens of the Roman empire did not have that most of us take for granted today. ![]()
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