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The Belly Button of the World and Other Neat Facts About Rome

There are plenty of cities that could credibly claim to be the center of the world, but only one has gone through the trouble of marking the exact spot. The timeless city of Rome is home to the Umbilicus Urbis Romae (the "navel of the city of Rome"), a spot in the Roman Forum from which all distances in Rome and the Roman Empire were measured. Constructed by the Emperor Augustus around 20 B.C., it was once marked by a grand marble tower, but all that's left of it is a sad little pile of bricks with a plaque. Still, it represents an excellent starting point or endpoint for any Roman adventure, and it's just one of several neat facts about Rome I picked up from a new book called the Mental Floss History of the World.

Other nifty tidbits include some trivia on Roman manners. Did you know that it was considered polite in ancient Rome to vomit between meals so you could eat more? Well it was, and the mess never got too out of hand, thanks to an army of slaves charged with cleaning up the spittle. Talk about lousy jobs. Rome was also the first civilization to use central heating systems, and even had hot and cold running water (in upper class homes, naturally) so residents could switch between hot, cold, and tepid baths. Why not just find a temperature you like and stick with it?

Humanity has evolved in the ensuing generations, and some of these ideas have been embraced (plumbing), while others, like the between-meal vomiting, have been rendered obsolete (save for the occasional fashion model). Still, it's interesting to take a look at a society that's at once ancient and far removed, and at the same time mirrors our own to a frightening degree of accuracy.

[Photo: personal.ceu.hu]

Related Stories:
· 5 Things You Didn't Know About Rome [askmen.com]
· The Mental Floss History Of the World [mentalfloss.com]
· Ancient History Travel [Jaunted]