Superstitions
Much like a modern superstition, Romans believed breaking this object gave 7 years of bad luck.
What is a mirror?
An Ancient Roman holiday, similar to Christmas, with reversal of power and celebrations of harvest.
What is Saturnalia?
Betrayed in March, 44 BC, this Roman dictator's death left his ambitious plans incomplete.
Who is Julius Caesar?
The heart of Roman public life, this open plaza hosted various activities, from trade, speeches, trials, and worship.
What is the Roman Forum?
Who is Augustus Caesar?
These plants, which are not actually fruit, were thrown by Romans on their version of Halloween in order to scare off malignant spirits.
What are beans?
Celebrated in February, this festival of affection, called the festival of Lupercalia, inspired a modern holiday taking place on the same date.
What is Valentine's day?
This co-founder of Rome was betrayed by the act of fratricide.
Who is Remus?
This Roman city near Naples was buried under ash in 79 AD on October 24th.
What is Pompeii?
Known as the last of the "Five Good Emperors", this golden philosopher-emperor wrote the famous book Meditations.
Who is Marcus Aurelius?
Not a type of monkey (though close in spelling), these Ancient Roman spirits were thought to be restless and malignant.
What are Lemures?
What is New Year's?
The dead Romans certainly were not grateful when, as Rome was burning, this emperor watched whilst fiddling, who supposedly burned Rome to make room for a new palace.
Who is Nero?
Roman was supposedly founded upon this number of hills along the Tiber River.
What are the Seven hills of Rome?
This famed orator and lawyer was famous for his persuasive speeches in the Roman Senate.
Who is Cicero?
To ensure good fortune, Romans performed this ritual where priests observed birds and their lives to divine the will of the gods.
What is augury (or taking the auspices)?
This holiday could have gotten its name from the original name of "Remuria", which was a day to honor Remus after his ghost appeared to ask for future generations to remember him, though over time it more broadly honored all dead spirits.
What is Lemuria?
Betrayed by his allies and defeated at the battle of Actium, this general died before being able to establish a joint empire with Cleopatra.
Who is Mark Antony?
This giant venue in Rome was used to entertain the people, often with fast chariot races.
What is the Circus Maximus?
This enemy of Caesar, a famed general, helped form the First Triumvirate with Julius Caesar and Crassus.
Who is Pompey (or Pompey the Great)?
To avoid bad luck, Romans put this before everything else whilst stepping into a new threshold.
What is the right foot?
Traditions like the Maypole evolved from spring traditions honoring this goddess of flowers, with the name for flowers being the same.
Who is Flora?
This betrayer, killer of his closest friend, supposedly fell upon his own sword after being defeated by Mark Antony and Octavius at the Battle of Philippi.
The tallest lighthouse in the ancient world, and one of the 7 Wonders, this lighthouse was housed in the same city as a famous library.
What is the Lighthouse of Alexandria (or the Pharos Lighthouse)?
This famed Roman general defeated the Carthaginian commander Hannibal at the Battle of Zama to win the Second Punic War.
Who is Scipio Africanus?