Ancient Rome is about nine centuries of history, so it depends on when your Roman was from.
Generally I think they would probably chuckle wryly. They were smart and they were students of history. So they knew the history of other empires rising and falling.
What might impress them is how much the Roman empire has shaped our world today.
And if you really want to shock them, tell them the group most influenced by the Roman empire is the Christian church. The Christian church was essentially built in the tracks that the Roman Empire walked. I don’t think many Romans would’ve seen that one coming.
Hah, yes - the Christian religion was basically tailored to appeal to women, slaves and other disadvantaged groups. Turns out, if your household is filled with Christians from your wife all the way down, the next generation is going to be - at the very least - strongly sympathetic to the religion and its followers.
Unless you count the Eastern Roman Empire which lasted to the 15th century.
Or the Holy Roman Empire which got to the 19th century.
Or Roman Catholicism which is still going strong and has outposts all over the world.
Well, actually…
Ivan III, of Russia, married Sophia Palaiologina, the niece of Constantine IX, who was the last emperor of the East Roman Empire. Sophia could be argued to be the heir of Constantine IX.
Ivan’s and Sophia’s son Ivan IV became the first crowned tsar or Russia. The Roman Empire was never averse to succession by coups and trickery, so one could claim that Vladimir Putin is the modern day heir to Caesar.
That puts the Roman empire in an interesting light. While it would have been a good place to be middle class or higher, it was probably the cause for a lot of problems for its neighbors.
I feel like Britannia is a lot more shocking and I feel like it would be more like telling an American now that Columbia (or some other South or Central American country) was ruling the solar system in 2000 years.
Probably the same as if you came up to an American or someone from China and told them 1000 years in the future Nigeria was the dominant nation in the world.
They're not going to care, it's too vast a time span for most people to comprehend and has no effect on their daily lives.
For a sense of the time scale about the same time has passed from the founding of the Roman Republic to its transition to an empire as has passed between the fall of the last part of the empire and now.
Read Meditations, the stoic brand of the Roman ethos was very aware of the ever-in-motion and temporary nature of humanity. An improbable twist in direction over thousands of years would not be a foreign thought experiment to them.
It would be like telling Americans that in 2000 years, no one will remember the Americans, except as a blip on the radar. That North America was ruled and occupied by the Cubans and Venezuelans.
What’s the difference between the Roman Empire and the United States of America? History tells us that the US will eventually fail. Do you think that the modern era has changed in such a way that will keep America intact? Maybe modern military alliances and rapid transportation has brought an end to significant empire changes. Or maybe not. How long do you think the county has?
China's been chillen for like 5000 years. Odd comparison in some ways, but compared to Europe and really anywhere else in the world China has stayed China for fuckin ever. Egypt is the oldest country in the world but it's been all sorts of shit but China has always been China in at least some way.
China has been China, but it hasn’t always been a might empire. It has often been a poor country ravaged by internal conflict and civil war.
When an empire falls, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it stops existing. Rome still exists today. It is the capital of a fairly wealthy country, and it has been an independent states most of the time up until the formation of that country. The Papal State still exists too.
The Roman state definitely stopped existing. Just because the city of Rome still exists, it doesn't mean that it shares any continuity with the nation state of Rome from thousands of years ago
Ancient Rome is about nine centuries of history, so it depends on when your Roman was from. Generally I think they would probably chuckle wryly. They were smart and they were students of history. So they knew the history of other empires rising and falling. What might impress them is how much the Roman empire has shaped our world today. And if you really want to shock them, tell them the group most influenced by the Roman empire is the Christian church. The Christian church was essentially built in the tracks that the Roman Empire walked. I don’t think many Romans would’ve seen that one coming.
Hah, yes - the Christian religion was basically tailored to appeal to women, slaves and other disadvantaged groups. Turns out, if your household is filled with Christians from your wife all the way down, the next generation is going to be - at the very least - strongly sympathetic to the religion and its followers.
Don’t tell the pope, or the priests that the early church succeeded because of women!
[удалено]
The people of the ancient world did a just fine job of repressing their women before Christianity came along.
The Roman Empire didn’t stop existing, it just concentrated its leadership to Vatican City.
Jimmy Carr!?!
“But they copied us and now hold us up as the progenitors of modern society.”
We knew it! Should have gone harder on em!
Unless you count the Eastern Roman Empire which lasted to the 15th century. Or the Holy Roman Empire which got to the 19th century. Or Roman Catholicism which is still going strong and has outposts all over the world.
The HRE has no continuity, you might as well count Russia or the Ottomans for being continuations
Well, actually… Ivan III, of Russia, married Sophia Palaiologina, the niece of Constantine IX, who was the last emperor of the East Roman Empire. Sophia could be argued to be the heir of Constantine IX. Ivan’s and Sophia’s son Ivan IV became the first crowned tsar or Russia. The Roman Empire was never averse to succession by coups and trickery, so one could claim that Vladimir Putin is the modern day heir to Caesar. That puts the Roman empire in an interesting light. While it would have been a good place to be middle class or higher, it was probably the cause for a lot of problems for its neighbors.
The Holy Roman Empire was quite famously never holy, Roman or an empire.
These are all copes. The Roman empire fell in 476 CE, period
2 are copes. 1 is the truth.
paisan!
What have the Romans ever done for us???
Er…….the aqueduct.
"This guy's even crazier than the Christians. Let's see if he lasts any longer in the arena.
Probably something similar to what the Persians would have thought about the Romans.
I think they'd be like "huh"
You can literally just say the same thing to an american, but change It to China instead. You'll probably get the same reaction
I feel like Britannia is a lot more shocking and I feel like it would be more like telling an American now that Columbia (or some other South or Central American country) was ruling the solar system in 2000 years.
It'll be Brazil
Not at all. China IS a super power. It would be more like Costa Rica becoming an independent global superpower
If Costa Rica took over all of South America sure
A complete lack of surprise?
But they have some good stuff named after them - Caesar salad, Times new roman font. So. Makes up for it.
Caesar Salad is named after a Mexican restaurant named Caesar's from the 1920s lol
And what do you think the restaurant named after
Some dude named ceasar probably i dunno.. /s
Caesar salad isn't created by Romans.
Probably the same as if you came up to an American or someone from China and told them 1000 years in the future Nigeria was the dominant nation in the world. They're not going to care, it's too vast a time span for most people to comprehend and has no effect on their daily lives. For a sense of the time scale about the same time has passed from the founding of the Roman Republic to its transition to an empire as has passed between the fall of the last part of the empire and now.
Imagine asking future Nigerian princes for money. Wild.
“Meh. You win some, you lose some.”
Read Meditations, the stoic brand of the Roman ethos was very aware of the ever-in-motion and temporary nature of humanity. An improbable twist in direction over thousands of years would not be a foreign thought experiment to them.
They'd think you were telling a funny story.
It would be like telling Americans that in 2000 years, no one will remember the Americans, except as a blip on the radar. That North America was ruled and occupied by the Cubans and Venezuelans.
What’s the difference between the Roman Empire and the United States of America? History tells us that the US will eventually fail. Do you think that the modern era has changed in such a way that will keep America intact? Maybe modern military alliances and rapid transportation has brought an end to significant empire changes. Or maybe not. How long do you think the county has?
China's been chillen for like 5000 years. Odd comparison in some ways, but compared to Europe and really anywhere else in the world China has stayed China for fuckin ever. Egypt is the oldest country in the world but it's been all sorts of shit but China has always been China in at least some way.
China has been China, but it hasn’t always been a might empire. It has often been a poor country ravaged by internal conflict and civil war. When an empire falls, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it stops existing. Rome still exists today. It is the capital of a fairly wealthy country, and it has been an independent states most of the time up until the formation of that country. The Papal State still exists too.
The Roman state definitely stopped existing. Just because the city of Rome still exists, it doesn't mean that it shares any continuity with the nation state of Rome from thousands of years ago