Current Events > AMA About Roman History

(+) Yeah! (+)

ASk away!

---

Whats a bored ancient Roman do on the weekends?

---

AlisLandale posted...

Whats a bored ancient Roman do on the weekends?

It was understood that with no work they would socialize with their neighbors or family or close individuals. ofc you had extra circular activities that are known today but socializing, travelling )if not poor and tending to your work. if we look at it 98% f human history, theri off time was pretty basic and simple

---

How much would a pound of salt be worth in modern dollars to an ancient Roman?

---

marthsheretoo posted...

How much would a pound of salt be worth in modern dollars to an ancient Roman?

damn.

no clue. just dont ask the carthaginians

sorry bad joke if you got it

---

I always confuse ancient rome (empire) with ancient greece... which was more badass iyo? Did one lead to the other?

---

How likely was it for an average citizen to be literate? Was literature widespread? I assume there was a lot of story telling and singing.

What made them convert to Christianity?

---

Skurvy_1 posted...

I always confuse ancient rome (empire) with ancient greece... which was more badass iyo? Did one lead to the other?

@Skurvy_1 this is going to be a boring answer and might seem obvious once all said and done., while you could argue either or most histroians would say romans

why?

the obvious. they were advanced technologoical by a smidge and also by leaps and bounds in military warfare and tactics, and at their height they held more ground over more people and fought way tougher "opponents"

simply put the romans knew about greks and learned from them, adapted from them and just "upgraded" kinda like firmware but it actually gets "better" depending on who you ask but most woudl say romans were a higher peak than greek. you can argue plitically if they were or not but romans kinda took what greeks did and upped it greatly and added new things. they arent considered copycats tho due to their advancements and new processes

---

Flockaveli posted...

What made them convert to Christianity?

What did they worship before Christianity?

---

Flockaveli posted...

What made them convert to Christianity?

this is funny becuase remember during the WHAT I BELIEVE THE FALL OF ROME. I dont belieev byzantine was the next 1000 years of roman rule. I personally dont believe it.

a ruler in i think 330-340 ad constantine said chritianity was the official religion and it just took off. he really backed it. was the first empror to full yget behind a sole religion that vehemently

---

Payzmaykr posted...

How likely was it for an average citizen to be literate? Was literature widespread? I assume there was a lot of story telling and singing.

I think that personally while poor peoepl got kinda fucked in teh system as they do anywhere, we have seen a lot of told instances where rags to riches story of generals and even some high standing senators/emporirs kinda.

in tems of literacy I cant pinpoint the %

---

Why did the Romans say "lol science" and stall scientific progress that the Greeks created post Alexander?

---

Skurvy_1 posted...

What did they worship before Christianity?

depending on the ruler but generally it was just various forms before hand soimetimes psirirts, sometimes gods, etc

---

Dathrowed1 posted...

Why did the Romans say "lol science" and stall scientific progress that the Greeks created post Alexander?

I wouldnt say stalled but you certainly could. I think liek any empire you get stuck inyour own ways or believe ot eb better. look at the dark ages and the peoples in that period.

I would say not all science was stalled at all though

---

as for the best ruler or emporer in roman history?

obv we have the 5 roman empror rule reign and you can pick any of the 5, it was close and you can see for yourself who you thought did more. but mainly they were the top 5 in close order but top 5 for sure.

---

Thank you for your responses TC..keeping this topic tagged to learn more!

---

What were the most important cities in terms of influence and power at the height of their respective peaks?

---

Flockaveli posted...

What were the most important cities in terms of influence and power at the height of their respective peaks?

hmm what do you mean? ones the conquered? or what they learned form previous

---

ryudo500 posted...

I dont belieev byzantine was the next 1000 years of roman rule. I personally dont believe it.

The rulers of the Eastern Roman Empire considered themselves Romans up until the fall of Constantinople, and the conquering Turks believed themselves to have taken the mantle of Rome from them.

---

UnholyMudcrab posted...

The rulers of the Eastern Roman Empire considered themselves Romans up until the fall of Constantinople, and the conquering Turks believed themselves to have taken the mantle of Rome from them.

yes but historians argue wether it fell in 400 ad or not truly. I di believe that it did. you are correct and factual they did and called themselves romans. but in my view if someen said rome fell in 399AD or around there, I wouldn't argue too much

---

ryudo500 posted...

hmm what do you mean? ones the conquered? or what they learned form previous

Ones they conquered and settled into and turned into global superpowers of the time.

---

What illnesses were the most common?

---

Flockaveli posted...

Ones they conquered and settled into and turned into global superpowers of the time.

I am not defending romans but they were..not the worst when they conquered peoepls. so when they conquered parts of greece, carthage, sure they destoryed certain things in carthage but I don tthink they dismantled it like previous and future settlements and empires did.

they kept those places in tact and didnt compltely rule over them and say you do x and you do y under us. they let them live their relatively normalish lives.

I wouldnt say they took over greece, and other ares adn said holy shit we must adapt this. into our system. by the time we got to pac romana, everythign was pretty much set. only emprors kinda brought in fresh ideas that re disclosed in their rulings so to speak. also seantors like giving free bread during 200-300 period here and there etc

---

Flockaveli posted...

What illnesses were the most common?

I am not sure, was smallpox and other diseases like polio such as that around back then? if so i would assume anythign we dont have strong hard coutners or vaccs for

---

If I was a parent what career/life path would I most push my children to follow? Let's say I have both one boy and one girl, totally healthy and able-bodied.

---

Flockaveli posted...

If I was a parent what career/life path would I most push my children to follow? Let's say I have both one boy and one girl, totally healthy and able-bodied.

for boy. military would be the obivous choice, you sometimes got SOME incentive better life being one " quotes" ig you wre poor. also if you were on a family farm or country side and didnnt wan tto work in city you would take over. muhc like what weve seen for most of history

---

@Flockaveli i dont knwo minute details of avg day life unoifrantely as well or very little its out tehre and some might know way way better but I unfouirtantly dont

---

What did they think of whales?

---

SomeLikeItHoth posted...

What did they think of whales?

@SomeLikeItHoth

I do not know

---

I think I am caught up with all questions currently


---

does the phrase "when in rome" REALLY allude to having sex with male children with no repercussions?

I heard their lead pipes really fucked them up, is that true?

---

marthsheretoo posted...

How much would a pound of salt be worth in modern dollars to an ancient Roman?

[Direct answer in bold at bottom.]

According to the Stoke-on-Trent Pottery Museum, Diocletian set a price cap in 301 CE of 100 denarii per modius of salt. The denarius was a Roman unit of currency; the modius was a unit of dry measure equaling approximately 8 liters, or .2825 cubic feet. The density of dry salt, according to the Salt Institute, is 72 pounds per cubic foot, so a modius of salt weighs about 20 lbs. This means that salt sold, a few centuries after the birth of Christ, at 5 denarii per pound.

This is all well and good, but what's a denarius worth? Well, the pottery museum says that a private in the Roman army, in the same era as the price cap quoted above, earned 750 denarii per year. This is a job that seems roughly equivalent to a minimum-wage job today, so let's set 750 early-CE denarii as equal to $11,000 in today's currency.

To put some perspective on this, let's look at today's prices. Table salt can be found at any supermarket, assuming that one buys in bulk at a decent price, for 50 cents per pound.

In Roman times, that minimum-wage salary would buy a soldier 150 pounds of salt per year. Today, minimum wage -- if paid in rock salt -- would work out to over 137,500 pounds of salt per year. This is approximately a thousand-fold difference.

To put this another way, if salt cost today what it did in Roman times, we'd be paying $80 per pound for it.

---

@Naysaspace

ugh disgusting. but wasnt that originally from fasting ? the saying when in rome. im not sure. but i thoguht i looked it up awhile ago

---

codey posted...

I heard their lead pipes really fucked them up, is that true?

@codey trace amounts and in their water but also I believe certain ceramics were laced with it which is for richer or wealthier romans.

in certain cases it did lead to things,. tehre was also trace amount sin water supply

---

you can also sweeten wine with lead acetate

tastes good man
---

monkaS

---

@Shablagoo good work

---

What's your background in history? Are you a hobbyist or is it a profession? One of my best friends is an archaeologist that does a lot of underwater work and after taking a few anthro classes in college I really considered taking that path.

---

HAIL SPARTACUS! THE BRINGER OF RAIN! and the champion capua of course.

---

codey posted...

What's your background in history? Are you a hobbyist or is it a profession? One of my best friends is an archaeologist that does a lot of underwater work and after taking a few anthro classes in college I really considered taking that path.

nah noone of that @codey

I think anthroplogy is pretty terrrible work from wjhat i was told by a professor. you make like less than 25k a year mostly and live in huts and really shitty shitty 3rd rate hotels and just have a very rough life with no payof. unlesss of course you like digging and goign to different part of countries.

you shudl ask your friend. he seems tio be enjoying it way more than a prof of mine did, but maybe my prof didn thave the connections or took a diff anthro path

---

ryudo500 posted...

@Naysaspace

ugh disgusting. but wasnt that originally from fasting ? the saying when in rome. im not sure. but i thoguht i looked it up awhile ago

idk man you're the expert

Did the Romans fart?

---

This guy doesnt know that much tbh >_>

---

My buddy's got a good government job now lol he's making a good living up in the DC area. Straight anthropology definitely seems like you need to work at a university to make a decent living (interesting as it).

Who am I to judge tho I went into journalism lol. There's always PR I guess if I want to make real money.

---

Do you know anything about my friend Biggus Dickus?

---

@codey he seems to be in the top 10% of the field. ive heard some gloom stories from anthro majorts in the field. not as glamorous as some movies made it out to be.


---

roman generals quite a few? i felt scipio and ofc julius were two of the elite but tbh you coudl make acase for 5-6 others who ahd equal impact

---

What were some of the coolest NAMES in your opinion? Septimius is my favorite.

---