Puzzle

History can be quite a puzzle. This is above all true of Roman – or any type of ancient – history. For so many things historians would like to know the 'how', 'what' and 'why', no sources are available. Sometimes this is due to the passing of time. Not every document, building or inscriptions survives the hands of time. Sometimes this is due to the lack of interest by the historians of that time. Roman history is mostly about men with their great deeds (political or military or both). If something doesn't fit this description, sorry, it's not written. There are exceptions of course. We do have some of the letters of Cicero. There are plays, inscriptions, eulogies or buildings. But unfortunately they don't answer questions like 'why didn't Scipio Aemilianus adopt a son, when he and his wife didn't have any children?' (more on this another day). I can't look into Scipio Aemilianus' mind and can only guess at his motivations. To show you that Roman history can be a puzzle, but a fun one, I will use the following example: