@Rasterman @Hoss “Cyber Santa” Delgado I just ctrl-A ctrl-C the article text before the paywall loads. Here you go:
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INTERNET CULTURE
How often do men think about ancient Rome? Quite frequently, it seems.
By Leo Sands
Updated September 14, 2023 at 11:47 a.m. EDT|Published September 14, 2023 at 10:26 a.m. EDT
Men dressed as centurions parade by the Colosseum in April 2012 during celebrations of the founding of the city of Rome. (Alessandra Tarantino/AP)
It’s been almost 2,000 years since the Roman Empire reached the historic peak of its power. But many men still contemplate it — quite a lot.
A new social media trend prompting women to ask the men in their lives how often they think about ancient Rome reveals that it crosses the minds of many men on a weekly basis. Even daily. Or more — to the surprise and confusion of their loved ones.
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“Three times a day,” answered one woman’s fiancé in a TikTok video. “There’s so much to think about,” he explained, eliciting a stunned look into the camera from his soon-to-be wife.
“They built an entire world-dominating society,” another man exclaimed when asked by a bewildered-looking woman to justify why he contemplates ancient Rome.
“Actually I was just having a conversation about their aqueducts and the fact that they had concrete that could harden. … How the hell did you know that?” answered another person who said they think about ancient Rome “at least once a day” in response to the question, in a screenshot shared on TikTok.
@kirakosarin
“theres so much to think about!” 🫠 #romanempire
But why? Sure, the Roman Empire boasted a dominion that stretched across the entire Mediterranean basin and far beyond. It was a flourishing laboratory of works of art and engineering that continue to astound. And it operated under a political system that still forms the basis of many modern counterparts. (At least, that’s what this reporter contemplates, maybe once a fortnight.)
But why does there seem to be a gender divide in who is daydreaming about ancient Rome today?
According to historians, one explanation could be that Western societies have historically overemphasized the aspects of Roman history that are associated with masculinity in the popular imagination.
The first thing that comes to the mind is “an image of the Roman legion, the imperial eagle and that sort of military aspect — along with gladiators, which has a long association with masculinity and power,” Hannah Cornwell, a historian of the ancient world at Britain’s Birmingham University, said in a telephone interview Thursday.
Since at least the 19th century, she said, historians have tended to view ancient Rome through the prism of politics and warfare, in part as a result of their reliance on “elite, masculine” sources.
“That has informed popular culture,” she said. “And yet — it’s then missing out on so much.”
The slew of videos on TikTok appear to have been prompted by Artur Hulu, a 32-year-old Roman reenactor and history influencer from Sweden who has earned a large following.
Known as “Gaius Flavius” online, where he posts videos of himself as a Roman legionnaire and performs comedy sketches as a gladiator, Hulu wrote on Instagram: “Ladies, many of you do not realize how often men think about the Roman Empire. … You will be surprised by their answers!”
In an interview, Hulu said he posed the question after noticing a disparity between men and women in their interest in Roman history and seeing other creators discuss similar trends. Hulu’s Roman reenactment society, for example, involves 16 men and two women, he said. “It is heavily male dominated.”
The disparity in interest dates back hundreds of years, Hulu believes. “The men during the Renaissance did it. The Founding Fathers also thought about the Roman Empire. Once you get enough exposure to the Roman Empire, whether it’s the military stuff or the law, you start to see it everywhere,” he said. “I can’t remember a day when I didn’t think about the Roman Empire. … It just fascinates me how different but also how similar the Roman Empire is to our world today.”
A post shared by Gaius Flavius🌿🏛 (@gaiusflavius)
And “Gaius Flavius” is not alone. One Reddit user, when prompted by his wife, said he thinks about the Roman Empire a few times a week.
“So many things in our lives today were influenced by the Roman Empire,” he explained in a post. “Language, food, philosophy, architecture, war, entertainment, sports, mythology, culture. … I don’t actively focus on the Roman Empire but the connection always pops into my head as I go about my daily life.”
@Rasterman @Hoss “Cyber Santa” Delgado and part 2 of 2:
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Roman ruins reveal how emperors used winemaking in a lavish power play
Historians insist that Rome itself isn’t just “guy stuff,” as some men in videos called it.
“Ancient Rome was of course patriarchal and violent,” Lewis Webb, a historian of ancient Rome at Oxford University, wrote in an email. “But it was also a diverse place: there were numerous forms of masculinity, women could have agency and power, and there were multiple gender expressions and identities, as well as various sexualities.”
Historian Cornwell also points out that Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, or Elagabalus, the Roman emperor from A.D. 218 to 222, is frequently presented in ancient sources as experimenting with cross-dressing.
“Even when you get to some of the emperors, they’re doing weird and wacky things by modern conceptions of what a man is,” Cornwell points out. There were also female gladiators. “The Romans do have a clear sense of what is masculine and feminine, but within that there is an awful lot of flexibility. Which sometimes we often forget about,” she said.
And she herself, of course, thinks about the Roman Empire quite a lot — on a daily basis, as it is her chosen field. Her partner recently told her he thinks about it “1.6 times a month.”
So what is a healthy amount?
“Goodness,” she said, laughing. “I’d say it really depends on what you’re thinking about.”
CORRECTION
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the time period during which Roman emperor Elagabalus reigned. He was emperor from A.D. 218 to 222, not 218 to 222 B.C. This article has been corrected.
>there were multiple gender expressions and identities
Please eat a bullet, worthless columnist.
@Hoss “Cyber Santa” Delgado @☃️merry chrimist☃️ @Rasterman just expressing perversion and sick taste, nothing more. These faggots really never know what they're dealing with. I hope they all get eaten alive.
@Hoss “Cyber Santa” Delgado @Rasterman @☃️merry chrimist☃️ At least the people doing that knew they were evil, at least. That's usually the way. They're aware they're doing evil things. The most horrible sin of the sick American mind, is they think these things are secretly good. I hope they all get eaten by demons. I don't think I have to be uncertain about this outcome.
No one is perfect, but damn, I hope these people get justice.
The writer really skirts over the fact that Elagabalus was completely out of his fucking mind, everyone in the entire empire knew he was out of his fucking mind, and eventually the Praetorian guard stabbed him and his mother to death because everybody just fucking hated him.
@Hoss “Cyber Santa” Delgado @☃️merry chrimist☃️ @Rasterman Funny how all those historians "evidence" are from the last days of Rome ( around 200 to 300 AD ) when it was just a shell of its former self and decadence had already set in.
They always bring up Elagabalus, who was probably one of the most hated emperors of all time. He made Nero look like a level-headed prude.
Never heard of them.
When did the Roman’s do the homo thing? End of their civilization or throughout?
They got the homo thing from the Greeks.
"Greeks invented sex, the Romans found out you could also have it with women"
my feeling is christianity undid the romans, i mean if you are just turning the other cheek how can you maintain an empire?
All the longest empires in history have all been Christian, including the longer half of the Roman empire, which was governed from Constantinople until almost 1500 AD.
i heard the longest empire was islam or romans
i think we are about to be schooled on that by aliens tho
Can someone answer the Roman homo question please.
Post your real face and I’ll think about it.
It was the jews. The jews gayed up Rome. It wasn’t white dudes.
@ToxicFemininity @☃️merry chrimist☃️ @Cuddly Lovely Sassy Motherfucker :verified: - ht... @Moved @StephanGuy @Hoss “Cyber Santa” Delgado Homosexuality was known to exist but nothing to be proud of and a reason for ridicule. I've studied the republic more than the empire, but have yet to see any source where homosexuality is shown even in a neutral light, let alone positive.
As Rome decayed, you'd see more signs of decadence, like sexual perverts, wasteful spending or rights for women. :pepe_feelsweird:
fiat must of played a key role, its theft by deception, fraud, states go really off the rails when they do that but then also use the stolen money to do more damage ala the usa rite now in ukraine and many other places
Why do you pervert columnists have to make everything about gender and cross dressing?
You’re sick fucks.
It's the only thing they know how to do. Everything must be about trannies now, the most important class of people that human society has ever known.
@☃️merry chrimist☃️ @Hoss “Cyber Santa” Delgado >ctrl-A ctrl-C the article text before the paywall loads
That's hilarious. Gonna have to try it. The jewish moneymaking scheme where they charge you to read their lies... defeated by two basic commands. :bluedoggo:
>But why does there seem to be a gender divide in who is daydreaming about ancient Rome today?
Gee, I don't know, maybe because women are self-absorbed and can't think about anything that's not themselves? :pepedisappoint:
Their expert explanations are incredibly retarded; but then again, they asked women historians.
>there were multiple gender expressions and identities, as well as various sexualities.
They were also regarded as limp-wristed faggots and the object of ridicule.
The article inevitable takes the fascination about Rome to how many sexual deviants and perversions could there be. Journos can't help themselves.
You an also use an archive site or 12ft.io
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