6. In Ancient Rome, Women Were Not Allowed To Cry At Funerals
A funeral in ancient Rome started with a procession that walked the departed down the street. The more people that attended the funeral, the more respected a person was. So, women were hired to ‘weep’ and even scratch their faces or rip out hair until blood came out to impress the crowd and to make their sadness believable.
This practice was deemed too extreme as these acts invoked strong emotions and were incompatible with the idea of the quiet life of the citizen. So, women were no longer allowed to cry at funerals thereafter.
7. Public Lavatories Were Common In Ancient Rome
Going to the bathroom was once a highly social experience in ancient Rome.
However, only a few wealthy people could afford to have a private bathroom or toilet in their house. The other 95% of the population used public lavatories that were made out of long rows of massive stone or wood with a hole cut every few feet. The constant running water from the baths flushed the waste to a sewage system.
8. Fathers Could Sell Their Sons Into Slavery In Ancient Rome
Fathers can sell their sons into slavery. Yes, the father was the head of the family and possessed absolute power over his wife, children, and household. Fathers also had the right to decide whether to keep newborn babies in the family.
If the person who bought the “slave” no longer had need of him, he went back into his father’s home. However, he could only do this 3 times. He could even have a family member put to death. Fortunately, few fathers were that cruel.
9. People Shaved Off Their Eyebrows To Mourn Their Cats In Ancient Egypt
In ancient Egypt, people worshipped cats as their favorite animals and believed that cats brought good luck to the families they lived with. Anyone who harmed cats was sentenced to death.
Ancient Egyptian families would mourn the death of a family cat by shaving off their eyebrows. A tiny cat mummy was placed in a family tomb or in a cat cemetery. Interestingly Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, and Hitler suffered from ailurophobia, a fear of cats.
10. Pregnancy Was Tested Using Garlic
Doctors of those times couldn’t say for sure why some women could get pregnant and others couldn’t due to lack of detailed medical knowledge in anatomy. However, they used several natural methods to test for pregnancy.
In 1350 BC, a woman had to moisten a wheat seed with urine. If the seeds sprouted, she was pregnant. Another way to perform a pregnancy test involved placing a clove of garlic or an onion in her vagina. The following morning, a doctor would smell the woman’s breath and claimed her pregnant if he could sense a garlic aroma on her breath.
People have changed a lot and we can’t even imagine living like the ancients did.
I feel these to be highly horrific. Which fact amazed you the most? Share us in the comments. In case, if you would like to know about unusual and weird couples, then read it here.
