During the night of July 8, A.D. 64, a fire broke out in the merchant district of Rome near the Circus Maximus. The summer winds quickly spread the fire between the dry wooden buildings, and for six-days the fire ravaged Rome. Seventy percent of the city was destroyed, and half of its population was left homeless. The decadent and ineffectual Nero reportedly played his violin, or fiddle, while the city smoldered and burned. But this can not be factual, as the violin did not exist in the first century. The closest instrument would have been the cithara, a heavy wooden instrument with four to seven strings. Suetonius tells us that Nero played the cithara so well that he could have supported himself as a musician. Tacitus wrote that Nero sang about the destruction of Troy while watching the city burn, but this account is unconfirmed. (See First Century Life: Domus Aurea)

Storms of rain and thunder could be produced or prevented by burning the head and neck of a chameleon in a fire made of oak logs. Equal results could be achieved by burning the liver under some tiles (Pliny, Natural History, 28.113).

Every five years, each male Roman citizen had to register in the city of Rome for the census. He was required to declare his family, wife, children, slaves and assets. Failure to do so came at a high price. His property and wealth would be confiscated, his citizenship would be revoked, and he would be sold into slavery.

Pliny the Elder told the story of an auctioneer who sold an expensive chandelier of Corinthian bronze. The merchant noted that the buyer was also in the market for a slave, thus threw in his own as part of the deal. Pliny describes the slave, Clessipus, as hunchbacked and ugly. Considered an object of novelty and curiosity, his new mistress paraded him naked in front of her dinner party guests. The humiliated Clessipus, however, had the last laugh. At the time of her death, Clessipus inherited her entire fortune. Natural History, 34.11.

Pliny the Elder wrote that eyelashes fell out from excessive amore, therefore in order to prove their chastity, it was important for women to keep their eyelashes long. Natural History, 11.154. (See First Century Life: Cosmetea)

According to the laws of the Twelve Tables: "If any person had sung or composed against another person a song such as was causing slander or insult to another, he should be clubbed to death." Table VIII: Torts or Delicts, 1a.

Emperor Hadrian is known for halting the expansion of the Roman Empire, but he was also considered to be the most well-traveled of ancient rulers. He visited nearly every province, kept the Roman army in readiness, and began many new construction projects (Hadrian's Wall). A speech given to his Legion III engineers was inscribed on a stone pillar by the soldiers: "Work others would have spread out over several days, you took only one day to finish. You have built a lengthy wall, made as if for permanent winter-quarters, in nearly as short a time as if it were built from turf which is cut in even pieces, easily carried and handled, and laid without difficulty, being naturally smooth and flat...." Lambaesis (northern Algeria), A.D. 128.

Methuselah, whose name in Hebrew means "Man of the Javelin", lived to be 969-years old. His grandfather, Jared, lived to be 962-years old (Genesis 5:18-19), and Noah died at the age of 950. After Noah, the longest-lived Bible figures lived into their 120s.

Roman citizens connected with government posts were given a diplomata; an official travel warrant (pass) issued by the Emperor or authorized magistrate. It mandated that the bearer be given free use of roadway inns, dining privileges and fresh horses.

Lightning was of grave concern to Romans. Seals were the only marine mammal believed to have been exempt from lightning strikes (Pliny, Natural History, 2.56). After narrowly escaping a lightning bolt, Augustus erected a statue to Jupiter, Roman God of light and sky, on the exact place where it struck. He also built a special underground safe-room where he took refuge during thunderstorms. According to Suetonius, Augustus always carried around a sealskin for protection (Suetonius, Divus Augustus, 90). Sealskins were also attached to the mast-heads of ships carrying royalty and dignitaries.