Pliny the Elder was an author, naturalist and philosopher. He died on August 25, A.D. 79, after a failed attempt to rescue a friend and his family in Stabiae. Vesuvius had just destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum, and the powerful wind caused by the sixth and largest pyroclastic surge would not allow his ship to leave the shore. His nephew, Pliny the Younger, gave this account of his death: "In the end, they chose to go outdoors. So they went out with pillows tied on top of their heads with napkins, their only defense against the storm of falling stones. Elsewhere it was day, but there the darkness was deeper than thickest night, and they had to use lights to find their way. They decided to go down to the shore to see whether they could escape by sea, but the waves were still running too high. There my uncle lay down on a sail that had been spread for him, and called twice for some cold water, which he drank. Then a rush of flame, with the reek of sulfur, made everyone scatter, and made him get up. He stood with the help of his servants, but at once fell down dead, suffocated, as I suppose, by some potent, noxious vapor. He had always had a weak respiratory tract, which was often inflamed and obstructed. When light returned, which was not until the third day, his body was found intact, in the same clothes he had died in."

Ancient Romans had only 5% periodontal disease, which is substantially lower than the current UK rate of 15-30%, and 38.8% in the United States. Catullus describes the Roman practice of cleaning one's teeth with urine. Wealthy women paid a premium for urine imported from Portugal; it was the strongest available, and had the most effective whitening properties.

Pliny the Elder recommended a bowl of lettuce before retiring, as the milky phlegm was a sleep aid (soporific). The juice from wild lettuce, nicknamed lettuce opium, contains terpene based alcohols, and is known in modern times to be an analgesic with calming properties. Natural History, vol. 4, chapter 26.

Hadrian built his pagan temple on the exact site of two previous ones. The first was built by Agrippa and the second by Domitian. Both of their buildings were destroyed; the prior by fire and the latter by lightning. Hadrian's design was a triumph of engineering, and has been in continuous use since its construction in A.D. 125. The dome is 142-feet in diameter, three feet wider than St. Peter's. The supporting structure is a ring of solid concrete 15-feet deep, 34-feet broad, with walls 20-feet thick. The ceiling oculus is open to let in light and rain (there is a drain in the center of the vast marble floor).

This covered marketplace was 5-stories tall with beautiful arched arcades. Each level sold different goods, ranging from produce, exotic Indian spices, oils and wines. The fifth floor held fish stalls with inventive channels that supplied them with fresh water, and also seawater from Ostia.

"We remember the free fish we used to eat in Egypt, the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic." Numbers 11:5.

The ancient Roman Empire stretched from Syria to Britain. Only one power challenged their arms and manpower: the Persian Empire, whose boundaries spanned from modern Pakistan to the Syrian border. The wars between these 2 empires lasted over 700 years. The conflict crippled both empires, with neither one actually winning.

In an effort to preserve soil moisture and prevent evaporation, the farmer surface-plowed his land at least three times a year. In the clay terrain of Tuscany, it was cultivated up to nine times annually. The farmer did not till deeply, and allowed the fields to fallow every other year. Vineyards were carefully hoed and equally well weeded. Any intrusive growth would usurp precious moisture.

Potatoes, champagne, coffee and tobacco were not introduced into Europe until the seventeenth century.

Mola salsa was a wafer of compacted salted flour used in the festival of Lupercalia. Celebrated on February 15, it averted evil spirits and purified the city, releasing health and fertility.