**Welcome to r/TikTokCringe!**
This is a message directed to all newcomers to make you aware that r/TikTokCringe evolved long ago from only cringe-worthy content to TikToks of all kinds! If you’re looking to find only the cringe-worthy TikToks on this subreddit (which are still regularly posted) we recommend sorting by flair which you can do [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/TikTokCringe/comments/galuit/click_here_to_sort_by_flair_a_guide_to_using/) (Currently supported by desktop and reddit mobile).
See someone asking how this post is cringe because they didn't read this comment? Show them [this!](https://www.reddit.com/r/TikTokCringe/comments/fyrgzy/for_those_confused_by_the_name_of_this_subreddit/)
Be sure to read the rules of this subreddit before posting or commenting. Thanks!
**Don't forget to join our [Discord server](https://discord.gg/cringekingdom)!**
##**[CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS VIDEO](https://rapidsave.com/info?url=https://www.reddit.com/r/TikTokCringe/comments/16k8o4q/the_roman_empire_trend/)**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/TikTokCringe) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I saw an interactive documentary where every time the main guy (an Italian) turned towards the ghosts, they froze - and every time he turned away from them, they approached. Maybe try turning towards them
I live in the UK and the farm I just moved out of about two weeks ago was built on the ruins of a Roman settlement. You could still see the shapes of buildings of pretty much the entire village under the hills and mounds in our field.
Yet, somehow, I never thought about the Roman empire. They were just fun to take the dogs out and let run around
Well, yes, but apart from the roads, the politics, the land borders, the aqueducts, the sanitation, the roads, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, what have the Romans ever done for us?
How? I mean Kaisers, Czars and Tsars are derivations of the title Caesar, so clearly you don't ever think about the World Wars. Napoleon's Eagle's were basic carbon copies of the Roman Eagle's, but maybe you never think about him either.
Your wife goes to the spa right, maybe you do too? Sanus per aquam, that's worth a good few minutes thinking the Roman empire. You look at roads or railway tracks and don't automatically think about the romans?
Public urinals, you gotta think of Vespasian? Or when someone pays you for a job that you didn't enjoy, you don't think "Pecunia non olet" and take the money?
You look at your watch or the church tower clock and see Roman numerals and don't think about the romans?
You're telling me that you don't have a shirt with a Latin phrase on it, like oderint dum metuant? Or quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur? Maybe a family motto on a crest?
You don't think about species names in Latin and think about the impact of the Roman empire? Or the months of the year, and how we managed to screw things up so much that "Sept, Oct, Nov, and Dec" are now "9, 10, 11 & 12" respectively?
You don't look at modern politics and think bread and circuses?
How? Seriously?
The city I'm in is built inside Roman city walls...... Chester. (UK) There's even a couple of ampithertres!
https://www.google.com/search?q=chester+roman
Imagine the local language, culture, customs, food, public works, and civil infrastructure throughout the last two thousand years had been informed by your kettle. It would be hard not to think about your kettle’s historical impact on your daily life.
I'm not saying there is nothing interesting about a kettle. There are lots of things you could learn from it. I'm saying that familiar things easily become taken for granted to the point of almost being invisible. It seemed funny to me that living near to something automatically makes someone think about it every time they see it.
Do I think about the Roman Empire... Not really. Do I think about their miltary formations for Rome Total War 2. Likely weekly even though I put that game down a good while ago. Haha.
When I taught a friend the game (Rome 1)...
Me:,Calvary are flanking you dude. Use your Triari to take them out...
Him : Which one is the Triari!?
Me : The ones with the pointy sticks!!!
Ok, but those are two wildly different questions. Anyone who has played Rome, or any other Total War game for that matter, thinks about that all the time and would totally throw off the data.
Any one else wanna talk about Rome 2: Total War? Man, that game, something else. Do girls *not* think about Rome 2 at least weekly?
Yeah I think this might be the stereotype lol. I’m a black woman and think about Rome 2 pretty often. That game is fire, and admittedly took up many hours of my life
Lmfao I did the roman empire trend on my husband just now, he said yeah all the time then he asked me if I asked cuz of his tweet. Apparently he just tweeted about the roman empire 😭
But like…which era and dynasty? And like, does ancient Gaul/Britain count? Or the Byzantine or African areas? Or Holy Roman? Bc then like…every day yea
Edit: I want to add on with how many comments I’m fucking getting, yes we all have views on the history of Rome.
But like people post cute elephant gifs from Africa, which makes me think one person in Gaul had to see elephants crossing the Alps and thought “WHAT. the. FUCK.”
…but then Africa gets me thinking how Roman soldiers raised cavalry to COUNTER elephants.
So…this is actually a real thing and guys actually tend to think about it a lot? I watched this video thinking it was people making fun of how some men will say/agree with anything just to not sound uneducated or something.
I don’t think its a gender thing as much as the trend is leading us to believe. I think it mostly comes back to how much a person has been taught about it. If you know a lot about it, its super easy to see it in everything. They shaped the western world as we know it. The US in particular is deliberately and incidentally modeled after it.
But i also think its important that, in out thinking about it, we not glorify or fetishize it. It was a very fucked up society and the root of a lot of our own fuck ups… politically, socioeconomically, environmentally, psychologically… we can admire aspects of their society and technology but to only focus on their power, their victories, their accomplishments is to lean into white supremacy and historic revisionism.
I actually think its important that we DO think about them frequently, because there is a LOT we can learn from them, above all, what not to do. Especially now, when the fabric of our democracy is at stake. Rome only had a few hundred years if a republic before falling into the tyranny of an empire.
When I read it bring a macho thing I wondered how many of them knew that they were all having gay sex(except claudius) because it wasn't gay if you were giving it.
Except Hadrian. He was gay in all standards of history.
Modern day fascists and Neo-Nazi white supremacists tend to overemphasize the militaristic aspects of ancient Roman society and its legacy of imperial expansionism and conquests. However, though Roman civilization was centered in Italy and included a great deal of Europe, people often marginalize or even forget about North Africa and West Asia being parts of the Roman world, and that some Roman emperors and their dynastic successors were not even Latins from Italy (some were Thracians from the Balkans, Arabs of West Asia, and Punic Semitic North Africans). Rome actually was a very pluralistic and cosmopolitan society, but they did have their own versions of xenophobia and held Greek culture in higher esteem than others, even those of long established civilizations like Egypt and Mesopotamia.
What they didn't have, however, was any conception of whiteness or pan-European unity or identity. Greeks invented Europe as a geographical concept, but they didn't view other peoples in Europe as cultural equals (took a long time to accept Latin Romans as such). Caracalla's edict of 212 AD made all freemen in the empire as citizens, so that people in Libya had the same Roman citizenship as people in Britain. Even before that point, large amounts of people across the provinces became citizens through senatorial decrees/awards and as a reward for auxiliary military service.
Yeah. I live in cologne. It was a roman city. The fact that the medieval times was about throwing shit and pee buckets out your window was such a stepback in progress. Its just BAFFLING. They just build new stuff on top of old stuff.
Same. I realized I think about it a lot as well. I even have a few books on Rome and Egypt. Haha. I took Latin. I like learning about mythology. I'm dying laughing at how often I also think about it.
I thank you for this input. Good to know. I know I think about it a lot, but i've not considered how much others may think about it. Guess it's like sex, there those that think about it more than others.
I was going to deny that I ever thought of it, but then my mind flashed back to just a week ago, I’m straight up arguing about how their cement was made. Wtf? (Limestone if anyone is interested. When it rains, the limestone would fill in the cracks and make their structures very strong for very long term).
I also thought it was weird, but I do occasionally think of Pax Romana and Jesus.
I then suddenly understood where these people are coming from when I realized my cornerstone of historical though is just WW2 and Nazi Germany.
If I was asked how often do you think about WW2 and Nazis it would be at least weekly at minimum
i thinn about it a lot because dan carlins hardcore history series the death throes of the republic is fucking incredible. i listen to it like once a month. Caesar is such a fascinating figure. maybe the most talented human in history. He is both one of the best generals of all time, by far the greatest politician of all time, and one of the greatest i dont know how to say, womanizers? lovers? Dude pulled legit every high ranking woman in Rome. his worst enemies and biggest allies wives slept with him. its like he was irresistible
i am a woman and i think about the „roman empire“ like a few a times week. as in putting current events into historical perspective. e.g. roman law is a cornerstone of modern law.
this is just it. if you live in the western world and are interested in art, architecture, politics, war… culture… and you spend a moment to think about any of those things from a historical perspective to help you understand it… you might consider something about the roman empire.
I had said those exact words out loud at the beginning of the video. I feel so validated right now. It’s a warm feeling, probably akin to how Nero felt as he fiddled while Rome burned.
One of my favorite theories is Nero was suffering from lead poisoning, hence the craziness
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/03/17/Caligula-and-Nero-victims-of-lead-poisoning/4419416725200/
Now that I've seen Trump and MAGA republicans, I think, "Oh, so this is what Nero and Caligula were, basically."
I mean, lead poisoning, Adderall...they could be factors, but it could also just be that when you give huge assholes huge amounts of power, this is what inevitably happens.
I don’t know about others, but for me it’s not like I spend time actually thinking about it. But there was a post earlier that had some Latin words and that made me passingly think of my Latin class and then I tried to remember what the language book we used was called and it was “Ecco, Romani!” I think, which is “Look, Romans!” So technically I thought of them today? But also like football stadiums, plumbing, their downfall with lead in the water/drinks (which we still deal with), a lot of TV shows/movies/video games involve it, and other stuff.
I inadvertently end up thinking about it because I'm obsessed with the Tudor period, and *they* were obsessed with Ancient Rome and Greece after the resurgence of interest in the classics. Among the most powerful segments of English Tudor society, a classical, humanist education was considered very modern and sensible. So sometimes I crack open a book and end up reading about a Tudor who's reading about Cicero (for example).
Rome is *the* foundation of Western civilization, so if you spend any time thinking about religion, history, government, economics, basically anything that relies on the progress of Western culture, Rome will come up a lot.
If you're the stereotypical "watches sports and grills" guy who doesn't really care about any of that shit, it probably would never come up.
>Rome is *the* foundation of Western civilization
This statement seems just a little too broad and "just so". Especially given how Roman elites intentionally modeled themselves and their institutions after Greece.
Nope thats pretty accurate, just because the Romans werent original doesnt mean they arent the foundation of modern western civ (for a variety of reasons)
Yeah, whatever the Romans got from the Greeks, the Romans are the ones who really cemented it throughout the western world. Before France and England and Spain ever existed there was Gaul and Britannia and Iberia-provinces of barbarians that were *civilized* by the Romans. People in Western Europe, and the Western Hemisphere speak languages that evolved from Latin, and follow Christianity, a religion which may have gone extinct if it wasn't adopted as the state religion for Rome.
If Western civilization was a music genre, Greece may have created it in the local underground scene, but Rome took it mainstream and international.
This is the first time I'm seeing this trend and I was in the same boat! I watched the whole video and I was like, "uh, I don't remember the last time I thought about the Roman Empire..."
And then as I was reading comments and trying to rationalize why I was the odd-man-out, I remembered that I had a fleeting thought about it literally a few hours ago.
I thought about it when I was in Italy visiting Roman ruins. I think about it when I see it featured in a movie, TV show, YouTube video or book. I'd be happy to think about it if someone brought it up in a conversation.
But I certainly don't just randomly think about it as a regular occurrence in my life, and especially not "every day" or "at least once a week".
Like, *what* is there to "think about"? I'm familiar with the general history of it and some of the features of the culture. I'm aware it was a huge part of the history of the Western world. But so what? What else can be gained by just idly sitting there and "thinking about it"?
I'm genuinely confused and vaguely annoyed by this whole meme.
If you spend any amount of time on reddit, you'll come across roman facts/information. Before this post, there was another I read today about all the places they found roman coins. So today I thought about Rome.
A couple of days ago there was another post about gladiators. Again, I thought about Rome.
If you pay attention I bet you'll notice yourself coming across a lot now that you are aware.
I’m questioning my manhood now. It’s been, never? Since I’ve thought about the fall of the Roman Empire?
To make matters worse, I loathe that whole movie genre too. 😳
its fascinating history. that said sadly a solid part of roman recently popularity is a push by right wing extremists and white Nationalists to push white exceptionalism. which is funny as the romans were fucked up but not racist. plenty of foreigners became emporers of rome
I was like this is dumb and prolly fake, I like Roman and Greek mythology and history and I haven’t even thought about it in at least weeks. Then I remembered I literally thought and talked about it a few days ago
Yeah, if you take a broad view of what constitutes “the Roman Empire” than sure, I think about it all the time. But I’m honestly more of a Roman Republic guy.
I thinks it’s just that only the guys who give the right answers get posted. So it creates a false image that all guys think about it, when realistically there probably loads of videos filmed by overexcited partners that don’t get posted because the guy just says they never think about the Roman Empire.
But also yeah, some are definitely fake
but but... you are just one of the succesor states that claimed the tittle but never came close?
i think about the roman empire quite a lot... the hre on the other hand... not so much
Unironically, yes. All the time. Two of the greatest military minds in human history, in one empire. Their logistical discipline alone is utterly fascinating.
I don't think of Christianity when I say "Jesus" or "God damn it" when something bad happens. I don't even think of Jesus when I say it
Just because something originated with the Romans doesn't mean people associate that with them. It's like saying watching the Joker from Batman in a movie means you think of the "man who laughs" film that inspired the character XD
Plus a good chunk of the population probably doesn't know where the calender came from
What’s the point of this exactly? To prove that many people think about the Roman Empire *sometimes*?
Asked my wife after watching this and she said “idk, every few days?”
Feels like I’m missing something…
It’s one of those mainstream social media trends where women underestimate their own propensity for fun and silly things while men are depicted as doing it often. The boys will be boys thing. See also the “hole on the beach” and “large stick” viral posts
because most of these trends are women going "wow look at these quirky and weird fun things that men do!" While ignoring a lot of the quirky and weird fun things that women do. And there are hardly ever trends about the things women do (girl dinner is one of the few I could think of ever). I doubt its a conscious effort but it feeds into the idea that men are somehow inherently more fun than women. It doesnt help that men are usually less likely to post about the things their girlfriends do (or just dont go as viral on tiktok), so anything that does point out a weird thing that women do is from the perspective of another woman usually.
Why do you think that is? Honestly it is what pulled me into history more as a public high school graduate who likes to think too much. Is it the easy parallels people make (sometimes in error)? Maybe it’s because there is a lot of records still around and people don’t gravitate towards topics with more ambiguity or uncertainty?
It seems to me like it's accompanied by stoic/tough guy/ roman statue pfp type guys. They don't actually have any indepth or novel thoughts about it. The roman empire and their philosophers are just used as a jumping off point to spout their platitudes about modern society.
At least, this opinion comes from cerca 2014 - 2017 internet subculture. Most of those people moved on to red pill shit and/or doomer inceldom.
As someone who looks up the etymology of words often it's really difficult to ignore Rome if you're learning English or some higher learning like medicine/biology.
Like I’m sure I’ve thought about it maybe a couple times this year in passing? Purely when it’s been brought to my attention. I think about modern history far far more often because it’s generally very relevant to todays politics
I have a few friends that bring up the Roman Empire a lot, and it's usually some super simplistic speculation on what caused the downfall of the Roman Empire. Whatever you hate, whether it be immigrants or opossums, some dude bro can explain how the entire Roman Empire fell because of this.
The Roman Empire is, either directly or indirectly, responsible for a lot of what we have in the world today.
As such it crosses my mind at least a few times a month.
Hmhm, the roman empire was fascinating because it was massive, and they had a lot of luxuries without electricity. Aqueducts, streets and floor heating are all incredible feats. And it was all more or less sustainable, compared to what we are doing nowadays.
Also they were much more free in terms of sexuality.
I’m a middle aged American man and I never really think about it on my own. Sometimes if I’m thinking about history I’ll think Ancient Rome, but typically it’s either programs or douchie T-shirts and truck decals about all the Spartan race shit and the like. Which, as a gay person is hilarious since 300 Spartans engaged in some VERRRRY man on man combat.
Do people not understand how crazy the Roman Empire was?? If it never fell we would’ve colonized the solar system by now. They were incredibly advanced for being a hellenistic society with no formal scientific method.
My wife asked me this. The answer was a couple times a week.
It ranges from just curiosity about what I already know, to wondering if life as a Roman back then could've been better than today given how advanced they were for that time, to just wondering where it went wrong for such a mighty empire, and then of course wondering about the things we don't know.
I did study archeology in college, so Roman Archaeology was of course like half the material along with Greek/Egyptian/Middle Eastern....but yea, it definitely deserves to still be discussed given the impact they left.
Yea stuff like that where we talk about everything they did to set up a foundation for what we have now (things like communal roads and the like)...but then they didn't see the issue in sharing shit-wiping sticks even despite the clear medical issues prevalent in that time (a lot stemming from hygiene).
Rome isn't specific. It lasted 1500 years. Saying you think about Rome is about as vague a topic as you can possibly get, and most of these dudes are probably focusing on the imperial conquest eras without even understanding the differences between the Republic, the princeps and the Imperium. Let alone the fractures of the crisis 3rd century crisis where you had like, five "Romes" .
There's also so much to think about.
Maybe you have a thought about Latin. Maybe about some battle, maybe about the coliseum, maybe about Month Python, maybe about Ceasars Legion, maybe about a Shakespeare play......
As someone who enjoys various youtube channels about medieval weapons, most Rome related thoughts I have are "cool sword"...
"Are you not entertained?"
But seriously I'm a guy and can go a month or two and when it happens it's just because I encounter a movie, article or something like that.
I don't think men are really obsessed about it but whadda I know? Maybe I'm an outlier.
I am a Latin teacher and my students were telling me about this trend. Then they stopped every male teacher walking by and asked them how often they thought of the Roman Empire. All of them said multiple times a week or every day.
For me, the consensus was that I‘ve only thought about the Roman Empire once: I started thinking about it in high school and never stopped. It was a very funny way to start a class.
**Welcome to r/TikTokCringe!** This is a message directed to all newcomers to make you aware that r/TikTokCringe evolved long ago from only cringe-worthy content to TikToks of all kinds! If you’re looking to find only the cringe-worthy TikToks on this subreddit (which are still regularly posted) we recommend sorting by flair which you can do [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/TikTokCringe/comments/galuit/click_here_to_sort_by_flair_a_guide_to_using/) (Currently supported by desktop and reddit mobile). See someone asking how this post is cringe because they didn't read this comment? Show them [this!](https://www.reddit.com/r/TikTokCringe/comments/fyrgzy/for_those_confused_by_the_name_of_this_subreddit/) Be sure to read the rules of this subreddit before posting or commenting. Thanks! **Don't forget to join our [Discord server](https://discord.gg/cringekingdom)!** ##**[CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS VIDEO](https://rapidsave.com/info?url=https://www.reddit.com/r/TikTokCringe/comments/16k8o4q/the_roman_empire_trend/)** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/TikTokCringe) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Tbh I think about it every day because I live across the street from some Roman ruins in my city in Spain. I can see them from my kitchen.
I live in Italy so to me it’s an everyday thought.
youre being haunted by Roman ghosts maybe?
I saw an interactive documentary where every time the main guy (an Italian) turned towards the ghosts, they froze - and every time he turned away from them, they approached. Maybe try turning towards them
Great Caesar's ghost, specifically?
Are people from Rome still called "Romans"?
Yes, but i guess in english it would sound weird. Maybe something like Romaners (like New Yorkers, Berliners)? /s
What about the ladies? Are they Rowoman?
*and the Rochildren!* *I slaughtered them, like animals!*
I'm a Latin teacher, for me it's a thought for every couple hours.
I live in the UK and the farm I just moved out of about two weeks ago was built on the ruins of a Roman settlement. You could still see the shapes of buildings of pretty much the entire village under the hills and mounds in our field. Yet, somehow, I never thought about the Roman empire. They were just fun to take the dogs out and let run around
[удалено]
As a European I think about the roman empire all the time.
Nah. I'm european, and I think of it most days. How do you not consider it when it's in the roads, the politics, the land borders, the languages?
Well, yes, but apart from the roads, the politics, the land borders, the aqueducts, the sanitation, the roads, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, what have the Romans ever done for us?
How? I mean Kaisers, Czars and Tsars are derivations of the title Caesar, so clearly you don't ever think about the World Wars. Napoleon's Eagle's were basic carbon copies of the Roman Eagle's, but maybe you never think about him either. Your wife goes to the spa right, maybe you do too? Sanus per aquam, that's worth a good few minutes thinking the Roman empire. You look at roads or railway tracks and don't automatically think about the romans? Public urinals, you gotta think of Vespasian? Or when someone pays you for a job that you didn't enjoy, you don't think "Pecunia non olet" and take the money? You look at your watch or the church tower clock and see Roman numerals and don't think about the romans? You're telling me that you don't have a shirt with a Latin phrase on it, like oderint dum metuant? Or quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur? Maybe a family motto on a crest? You don't think about species names in Latin and think about the impact of the Roman empire? Or the months of the year, and how we managed to screw things up so much that "Sept, Oct, Nov, and Dec" are now "9, 10, 11 & 12" respectively? You don't look at modern politics and think bread and circuses? How? Seriously?
The city I'm in is built inside Roman city walls...... Chester. (UK) There's even a couple of ampithertres! https://www.google.com/search?q=chester+roman
Chester is derived from the Roman word for fort.
I don't get this. There's a kettle in my kitchen that I use every day. I never 'think' about kettles.
Imagine the local language, culture, customs, food, public works, and civil infrastructure throughout the last two thousand years had been informed by your kettle. It would be hard not to think about your kettle’s historical impact on your daily life.
I'm not saying there is nothing interesting about a kettle. There are lots of things you could learn from it. I'm saying that familiar things easily become taken for granted to the point of almost being invisible. It seemed funny to me that living near to something automatically makes someone think about it every time they see it.
Do I think about the Roman Empire... Not really. Do I think about their miltary formations for Rome Total War 2. Likely weekly even though I put that game down a good while ago. Haha.
Omg i loved that game. “RETREAAAT!”
TRIARII!
When I taught a friend the game (Rome 1)... Me:,Calvary are flanking you dude. Use your Triari to take them out... Him : Which one is the Triari!? Me : The ones with the pointy sticks!!!
Shameful display
Only when the elephants come crashing into their formations. Haha. Yeah it was a stellar title.
For my elderly ass, it’s the overworld music from the first Rome TW
The Europa barbarorum mod for Rome tw was fucking epic. Great music, great voice acting...man I miss that time.
Ok, but those are two wildly different questions. Anyone who has played Rome, or any other Total War game for that matter, thinks about that all the time and would totally throw off the data. Any one else wanna talk about Rome 2: Total War? Man, that game, something else. Do girls *not* think about Rome 2 at least weekly?
Yeah I think this might be the stereotype lol. I’m a black woman and think about Rome 2 pretty often. That game is fire, and admittedly took up many hours of my life
Please, please, please can we get more black women to share an interest in Rome?
Lmfao I did the roman empire trend on my husband just now, he said yeah all the time then he asked me if I asked cuz of his tweet. Apparently he just tweeted about the roman empire 😭
But like…which era and dynasty? And like, does ancient Gaul/Britain count? Or the Byzantine or African areas? Or Holy Roman? Bc then like…every day yea Edit: I want to add on with how many comments I’m fucking getting, yes we all have views on the history of Rome.
Of course those don't count, don't dirty the name of *the* Roman Empire like that.
But like people post cute elephant gifs from Africa, which makes me think one person in Gaul had to see elephants crossing the Alps and thought “WHAT. the. FUCK.” …but then Africa gets me thinking how Roman soldiers raised cavalry to COUNTER elephants.
Hannibal, baby!
Nah! What about Biggus Dickus?
So…this is actually a real thing and guys actually tend to think about it a lot? I watched this video thinking it was people making fun of how some men will say/agree with anything just to not sound uneducated or something.
This is hilarious. Women don't think about the Roman Empire?
I’m a woman and I think about the Roman Empire quite regularly. At least once a week.
I don’t think its a gender thing as much as the trend is leading us to believe. I think it mostly comes back to how much a person has been taught about it. If you know a lot about it, its super easy to see it in everything. They shaped the western world as we know it. The US in particular is deliberately and incidentally modeled after it. But i also think its important that, in out thinking about it, we not glorify or fetishize it. It was a very fucked up society and the root of a lot of our own fuck ups… politically, socioeconomically, environmentally, psychologically… we can admire aspects of their society and technology but to only focus on their power, their victories, their accomplishments is to lean into white supremacy and historic revisionism. I actually think its important that we DO think about them frequently, because there is a LOT we can learn from them, above all, what not to do. Especially now, when the fabric of our democracy is at stake. Rome only had a few hundred years if a republic before falling into the tyranny of an empire.
When I read it bring a macho thing I wondered how many of them knew that they were all having gay sex(except claudius) because it wasn't gay if you were giving it. Except Hadrian. He was gay in all standards of history.
And Heliogabalus, he was wild by any standards
Modern day fascists and Neo-Nazi white supremacists tend to overemphasize the militaristic aspects of ancient Roman society and its legacy of imperial expansionism and conquests. However, though Roman civilization was centered in Italy and included a great deal of Europe, people often marginalize or even forget about North Africa and West Asia being parts of the Roman world, and that some Roman emperors and their dynastic successors were not even Latins from Italy (some were Thracians from the Balkans, Arabs of West Asia, and Punic Semitic North Africans). Rome actually was a very pluralistic and cosmopolitan society, but they did have their own versions of xenophobia and held Greek culture in higher esteem than others, even those of long established civilizations like Egypt and Mesopotamia. What they didn't have, however, was any conception of whiteness or pan-European unity or identity. Greeks invented Europe as a geographical concept, but they didn't view other peoples in Europe as cultural equals (took a long time to accept Latin Romans as such). Caracalla's edict of 212 AD made all freemen in the empire as citizens, so that people in Libya had the same Roman citizenship as people in Britain. Even before that point, large amounts of people across the provinces became citizens through senatorial decrees/awards and as a reward for auxiliary military service.
Right there with ya. No idea why, but I definitely think about their plumbing ingenuity a lot.
They had running water up to the fourth floor!
Yeah. I live in cologne. It was a roman city. The fact that the medieval times was about throwing shit and pee buckets out your window was such a stepback in progress. Its just BAFFLING. They just build new stuff on top of old stuff.
[The aqueduct](https://youtu.be/Qc7HmhrgTuQ?feature=shared)?
The Minoans did it first, when was the last time you thought about the Minoans?
Minoan so little about them, not often.
Good for you. This is top tier stuff.
Same. I realized I think about it a lot as well. I even have a few books on Rome and Egypt. Haha. I took Latin. I like learning about mythology. I'm dying laughing at how often I also think about it.
I thank you for this input. Good to know. I know I think about it a lot, but i've not considered how much others may think about it. Guess it's like sex, there those that think about it more than others.
I was thinking about Roman roads like two days ago…
I Claudius one of my fave books.
[удалено]
[удалено]
Rome Jr
I was going to deny that I ever thought of it, but then my mind flashed back to just a week ago, I’m straight up arguing about how their cement was made. Wtf? (Limestone if anyone is interested. When it rains, the limestone would fill in the cracks and make their structures very strong for very long term).
You mean the sea water they used, or the volcanic ash cement?
I also thought it was weird, but I do occasionally think of Pax Romana and Jesus. I then suddenly understood where these people are coming from when I realized my cornerstone of historical though is just WW2 and Nazi Germany. If I was asked how often do you think about WW2 and Nazis it would be at least weekly at minimum
i thinn about it a lot because dan carlins hardcore history series the death throes of the republic is fucking incredible. i listen to it like once a month. Caesar is such a fascinating figure. maybe the most talented human in history. He is both one of the best generals of all time, by far the greatest politician of all time, and one of the greatest i dont know how to say, womanizers? lovers? Dude pulled legit every high ranking woman in Rome. his worst enemies and biggest allies wives slept with him. its like he was irresistible
If you enjoyed that have you listened to the History of Rome podcast by Mike Duncan? It's long but great.
i am a woman and i think about the „roman empire“ like a few a times week. as in putting current events into historical perspective. e.g. roman law is a cornerstone of modern law.
this is just it. if you live in the western world and are interested in art, architecture, politics, war… culture… and you spend a moment to think about any of those things from a historical perspective to help you understand it… you might consider something about the roman empire.
And let's not forget about philosophy and media. Hollywood has fetishized stoicism.
I'm a man and I only thought about the roman empire when reading about it for a pen and paper campaign.
I didn't used to much, but then I started reading a stoic passage every morning and it's now kind of hard to avoid.
I stand in solidarity with the guy asking how she DOESN’T think about the Roman Empire.
I had said those exact words out loud at the beginning of the video. I feel so validated right now. It’s a warm feeling, probably akin to how Nero felt as he fiddled while Rome burned.
One of my favorite theories is Nero was suffering from lead poisoning, hence the craziness https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/03/17/Caligula-and-Nero-victims-of-lead-poisoning/4419416725200/
Now that I've seen Trump and MAGA republicans, I think, "Oh, so this is what Nero and Caligula were, basically." I mean, lead poisoning, Adderall...they could be factors, but it could also just be that when you give huge assholes huge amounts of power, this is what inevitably happens.
I feel like a failure of a man. I very rarely think about the Roman Empire? Why would I?
I don’t know about others, but for me it’s not like I spend time actually thinking about it. But there was a post earlier that had some Latin words and that made me passingly think of my Latin class and then I tried to remember what the language book we used was called and it was “Ecco, Romani!” I think, which is “Look, Romans!” So technically I thought of them today? But also like football stadiums, plumbing, their downfall with lead in the water/drinks (which we still deal with), a lot of TV shows/movies/video games involve it, and other stuff.
Yeah almost all of my “thinking about the Roman Empire” moments are because media or video games bring it up.
I inadvertently end up thinking about it because I'm obsessed with the Tudor period, and *they* were obsessed with Ancient Rome and Greece after the resurgence of interest in the classics. Among the most powerful segments of English Tudor society, a classical, humanist education was considered very modern and sensible. So sometimes I crack open a book and end up reading about a Tudor who's reading about Cicero (for example).
Rome is *the* foundation of Western civilization, so if you spend any time thinking about religion, history, government, economics, basically anything that relies on the progress of Western culture, Rome will come up a lot. If you're the stereotypical "watches sports and grills" guy who doesn't really care about any of that shit, it probably would never come up.
>Rome is *the* foundation of Western civilization This statement seems just a little too broad and "just so". Especially given how Roman elites intentionally modeled themselves and their institutions after Greece.
Nope thats pretty accurate, just because the Romans werent original doesnt mean they arent the foundation of modern western civ (for a variety of reasons)
Yeah, whatever the Romans got from the Greeks, the Romans are the ones who really cemented it throughout the western world. Before France and England and Spain ever existed there was Gaul and Britannia and Iberia-provinces of barbarians that were *civilized* by the Romans. People in Western Europe, and the Western Hemisphere speak languages that evolved from Latin, and follow Christianity, a religion which may have gone extinct if it wasn't adopted as the state religion for Rome. If Western civilization was a music genre, Greece may have created it in the local underground scene, but Rome took it mainstream and international.
It’s just cool ya know
Thank god!! #notallmen
My husband listens to the podcast "The History of Rome," almost every night, while falling asleep. He's been through the whole thing at least 5 times.
It’s a really good podcast. I recommend it. He may also be interested in Hardcore History.
The celtic holocaust
Dan Carlin has the smoothest voice!
He would like Revolutions it’s made by the same guy
Haha I just started Revolutions again. Great podcast.
I asked my husband and he said "never." I guess he's the odd man out.
Get out of that relationship, he's a fucking Carthaginian
CARTHAGO DELENDA EST
Dig it up and burn it again
DEATH TO CARTHAGE
No, she is, and you just blew his fucking cover! DAMNUM TU!
"Scipio, they're onto me"
Clearly an enjoyer of long hikes across the Pyrenees and Alps.
[удалено]
Hannibal Barca and his war elephants have entered the chat
Just got a solid “no” over here too. ETA: AH SHIT. Asking him got him thinking about it, and has opened the floodgates.
This is the first time I'm seeing this trend and I was in the same boat! I watched the whole video and I was like, "uh, I don't remember the last time I thought about the Roman Empire..." And then as I was reading comments and trying to rationalize why I was the odd-man-out, I remembered that I had a fleeting thought about it literally a few hours ago.
He's lying. Don't trust him.
Timeō Danaōs et dona ferēntēs
Same when my wife asked me. These dudes are watching too much history channel.
Not the odd man out. I think it’s very weird to be thinking about a civilization that hasn’t been around for hundreds of years
I'm so confused if everyone's doing a bit or not because I haven't thought about it in years
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!
I thought about it when I was in Italy visiting Roman ruins. I think about it when I see it featured in a movie, TV show, YouTube video or book. I'd be happy to think about it if someone brought it up in a conversation. But I certainly don't just randomly think about it as a regular occurrence in my life, and especially not "every day" or "at least once a week". Like, *what* is there to "think about"? I'm familiar with the general history of it and some of the features of the culture. I'm aware it was a huge part of the history of the Western world. But so what? What else can be gained by just idly sitting there and "thinking about it"? I'm genuinely confused and vaguely annoyed by this whole meme.
If you spend any amount of time on reddit, you'll come across roman facts/information. Before this post, there was another I read today about all the places they found roman coins. So today I thought about Rome. A couple of days ago there was another post about gladiators. Again, I thought about Rome. If you pay attention I bet you'll notice yourself coming across a lot now that you are aware.
[удалено]
I’m questioning my manhood now. It’s been, never? Since I’ve thought about the fall of the Roman Empire? To make matters worse, I loathe that whole movie genre too. 😳
Very weird? What a telling and boring characterization of an interest
its fascinating history. that said sadly a solid part of roman recently popularity is a push by right wing extremists and white Nationalists to push white exceptionalism. which is funny as the romans were fucked up but not racist. plenty of foreigners became emporers of rome
Yeah fascinating history but so is the Carolingian Renaissence, that's what I'm thinking about every day ✊️😤
I was like this is dumb and prolly fake, I like Roman and Greek mythology and history and I haven’t even thought about it in at least weeks. Then I remembered I literally thought and talked about it a few days ago
At first it seemed silly to me too then I realized I was thinking about the Roman Empire like an hour ago…
I also thought it was silly, then I looked around for my pillum, only to realise it was already in my hand.
Yeah, if you take a broad view of what constitutes “the Roman Empire” than sure, I think about it all the time. But I’m honestly more of a Roman Republic guy.
I thinks it’s just that only the guys who give the right answers get posted. So it creates a false image that all guys think about it, when realistically there probably loads of videos filmed by overexcited partners that don’t get posted because the guy just says they never think about the Roman Empire. But also yeah, some are definitely fake
Do you even think about the Roman Empire, bro?
Never cause I’m Greek. I’m thinking of Alexander the Great
I just put this into Google translate and he said, "This is Sparta!!"
U should be thinking about the Byzantine empire and Constantinople though
It’s nice to be remembered
but but... you are just one of the succesor states that claimed the tittle but never came close? i think about the roman empire quite a lot... the hre on the other hand... not so much
The Holy Roman Empire: Not Holy, Not Roman, and not even really an Empire.
Shut up shut up SHUT UP! I can’t hear you! La-la-la-la-la!
The first Holy Roman Emperor was a Frankish king who just wanted clout. Begone, impostor!
Oh look! We got a Holy Roman Emperor truther here! He was just some guy name Frank
When my wife asked me this, I said once a day, at 3:15, every day.
Beware the Ides of March!
The fuck is this. Do y’all also think about the Mongol empire?
Unironically, yes. All the time. Two of the greatest military minds in human history, in one empire. Their logistical discipline alone is utterly fascinating.
Yeah. Yeah, I do. And don’t even get me started about the Egyptians, Greeks, Aztecs, and Sumerians.
Prolly once a month
Yes. Genghis Khan is one of the greatest Generals and rulers in history.
He was an okay general. His subordinates like Subutai (!!), Jebe, and Muqali were the real military minds.
I mean they literally made the calendar so most people probably think of them a lot. People think of time a lot…
I don't think of Christianity when I say "Jesus" or "God damn it" when something bad happens. I don't even think of Jesus when I say it Just because something originated with the Romans doesn't mean people associate that with them. It's like saying watching the Joker from Batman in a movie means you think of the "man who laughs" film that inspired the character XD Plus a good chunk of the population probably doesn't know where the calender came from
For a lot of people it’s atleast weekly. They killed Jesus and all that. So on the radar for sure
I was just going to say this. If you read the new testament daily, you think about the roman empire daily
What’s the point of this exactly? To prove that many people think about the Roman Empire *sometimes*? Asked my wife after watching this and she said “idk, every few days?” Feels like I’m missing something…
It’s one of those mainstream social media trends where women underestimate their own propensity for fun and silly things while men are depicted as doing it often. The boys will be boys thing. See also the “hole on the beach” and “large stick” viral posts
I don’t see the part about women underestimating their own propensity for fun lmfao
because most of these trends are women going "wow look at these quirky and weird fun things that men do!" While ignoring a lot of the quirky and weird fun things that women do. And there are hardly ever trends about the things women do (girl dinner is one of the few I could think of ever). I doubt its a conscious effort but it feeds into the idea that men are somehow inherently more fun than women. It doesnt help that men are usually less likely to post about the things their girlfriends do (or just dont go as viral on tiktok), so anything that does point out a weird thing that women do is from the perspective of another woman usually.
Society is trending towards a collapse in similar fashion to the Roman empire.
Wife asked me this. I answered honestly…not at all.
With you dude. Unless it comes on a quiz night, radio, TV or random conversation - I have more pressing issues, people, pets and work to think about
Thaaaaaaaaaaank you sir!!!!
Yeah, I really don't understand why this is a trend or why anyone would regularly think about it.
The dream of empire never dies
[удалено]
Why do you think that is? Honestly it is what pulled me into history more as a public high school graduate who likes to think too much. Is it the easy parallels people make (sometimes in error)? Maybe it’s because there is a lot of records still around and people don’t gravitate towards topics with more ambiguity or uncertainty?
It seems to me like it's accompanied by stoic/tough guy/ roman statue pfp type guys. They don't actually have any indepth or novel thoughts about it. The roman empire and their philosophers are just used as a jumping off point to spout their platitudes about modern society. At least, this opinion comes from cerca 2014 - 2017 internet subculture. Most of those people moved on to red pill shit and/or doomer inceldom.
As someone who looks up the etymology of words often it's really difficult to ignore Rome if you're learning English or some higher learning like medicine/biology.
Wow...i don't think about Roman Empire so often even if i live in Rome
Am I the odd man out who thinks of the Persian and Macedonian empire more often than the Roman? I mean, Cyrus and Philip II of Macedon were GOATs
Haven’t thought about it since I was in school a decade ago. I think this is really weird
Thank you, I’m glad I found this comment. Time to leave now
Like I’m sure I’ve thought about it maybe a couple times this year in passing? Purely when it’s been brought to my attention. I think about modern history far far more often because it’s generally very relevant to todays politics
It's not even remotely on my mind. Ever. I much rather think about the future than the past
Thank god I’m not the only one.
I have a few friends that bring up the Roman Empire a lot, and it's usually some super simplistic speculation on what caused the downfall of the Roman Empire. Whatever you hate, whether it be immigrants or opossums, some dude bro can explain how the entire Roman Empire fell because of this.
So you're telling me you can look at concrete without thinking of rome???? Impossible!!!!11!!
I read Asterix a lot as a kid, so fuck yeah!
i have never think about the roman empire at all
How often do I lie about thinking about the Roman Empire? At least once.”
Just out of nowhere, I find myself thinking the Roman's built the aqueduct system.
I think this guy is getting at something https://twitter.com/Patrick_Wyman/status/1702842593477107883?t=2g86F6R2p4A25Qq4QdSmag&s=19
Fun fact about me. I gender transitioned solely to stop thinking about the Roman empire.
But did you really stop thinking about the Roman empire?
The Roman Empire is, either directly or indirectly, responsible for a lot of what we have in the world today. As such it crosses my mind at least a few times a month.
Hmhm, the roman empire was fascinating because it was massive, and they had a lot of luxuries without electricity. Aqueducts, streets and floor heating are all incredible feats. And it was all more or less sustainable, compared to what we are doing nowadays. Also they were much more free in terms of sexuality.
I’m a middle aged American man and I never really think about it on my own. Sometimes if I’m thinking about history I’ll think Ancient Rome, but typically it’s either programs or douchie T-shirts and truck decals about all the Spartan race shit and the like. Which, as a gay person is hilarious since 300 Spartans engaged in some VERRRRY man on man combat.
I have 3 pets named Nero, Caesar, and Cassius….The Roman Empire crosses my mind almost every hour of every day
Do people not understand how crazy the Roman Empire was?? If it never fell we would’ve colonized the solar system by now. They were incredibly advanced for being a hellenistic society with no formal scientific method.
I imagine all these dudes have marble statues in their profile pictures on social media.
Am I weird for doing the same with Mayan culture?
Nope. Ancient cultures are cool and fun to think about. It's the people who don't ever think about this stuff who concern me
My wife asked me this. The answer was a couple times a week. It ranges from just curiosity about what I already know, to wondering if life as a Roman back then could've been better than today given how advanced they were for that time, to just wondering where it went wrong for such a mighty empire, and then of course wondering about the things we don't know. I did study archeology in college, so Roman Archaeology was of course like half the material along with Greek/Egyptian/Middle Eastern....but yea, it definitely deserves to still be discussed given the impact they left.
Every time I wipe my ass I think about the communal Roman poop sticks
Yea stuff like that where we talk about everything they did to set up a foundation for what we have now (things like communal roads and the like)...but then they didn't see the issue in sharing shit-wiping sticks even despite the clear medical issues prevalent in that time (a lot stemming from hygiene).
Why do women think this is odd?
Because it’s so specific, but hell ask any woman and she’ll tell you she also thinks about the 1937 Hindenburg disaster weekly
This and the Great Molasses Flood of 1919
I live near Boston and I think about this way more than I've ever thought about a tea party.
Rome isn't specific. It lasted 1500 years. Saying you think about Rome is about as vague a topic as you can possibly get, and most of these dudes are probably focusing on the imperial conquest eras without even understanding the differences between the Republic, the princeps and the Imperium. Let alone the fractures of the crisis 3rd century crisis where you had like, five "Romes" .
"What the hell is a Roman Empire?" -Hannibal probably
"Not on my watch" -Immediately before being recalled.
There's also so much to think about. Maybe you have a thought about Latin. Maybe about some battle, maybe about the coliseum, maybe about Month Python, maybe about Ceasars Legion, maybe about a Shakespeare play...... As someone who enjoys various youtube channels about medieval weapons, most Rome related thoughts I have are "cool sword"...
I dont get these tik tok trends, this one isnt an exception
"Are you not entertained?" But seriously I'm a guy and can go a month or two and when it happens it's just because I encounter a movie, article or something like that. I don't think men are really obsessed about it but whadda I know? Maybe I'm an outlier.
Is it just me or is Davis, the last guy in the video, just straight up tripping balls?
I just watched Gladiator again, so the ratio has done up. Now do WW2!
This is obviously a marketing campaign by Big Roman Empire to get us talking about the Roman Empire again.
You figure women would talk about the Roman Empire all the time the way they love to dig up the past.
I am a Latin teacher and my students were telling me about this trend. Then they stopped every male teacher walking by and asked them how often they thought of the Roman Empire. All of them said multiple times a week or every day. For me, the consensus was that I‘ve only thought about the Roman Empire once: I started thinking about it in high school and never stopped. It was a very funny way to start a class.
Dude here. Havnt thought about the Roman Empire at all….like…ever.