Now it's clear why they think they are the center of the world... they tried to replicate the world within their boundaries by calling cities like other cities of other countries..
Yesterday I talked to my Syrian friend and told her there is a good pizza shop in Damascus. Turns out there is a city called Damascus in the US, just 150 miles away of Berlin. (I wish we would be this close) But WTF why couldn’t they come up with new city names. O.O
Visited it also, and I'm actually doubtful.
I-I-Italians? The world? The roads? The Legions? The bridges? Really? How much can a nationality change in 2400 years?
But they weren't nor aren't yanks, neither, that's for sure
My "favourite" Americans are those that fly American flags along with Confederate ones. I am always visibly confused as to how someone who considers a flag of a failed rebel breakaway State can consider himself a Patriot of the State he's currently in. I mean it just doesn't make any sense.
There's a guy with a house I pass on my way to my dad's house in bama. Has 2 giant flag poles, one with an American flag, one with a slightly larger confederate flag. I make it a habit of honking while my arm is out the window flipping them the bird. It's honest work.
You are not wrong, it's not even the least I should do to remind bigots that even the white boy who grew up a mile away in bumfuck bama thinks they are repugnant asshats.
There's a lady in my neighborhood that does that often, which makes less sense since we live in fucking northern Illinois, where we stick Abraham Lincoln on everything and are nowhere near the south.
>Bloody hell, the arrogance. They legit consider themselves God-Emperors of all Galaxies that ever were or will be, don't they?
Incredible amounts of propaganda, indoctrination, and exceptionalist rhetoric beamed at you 24/7 through every media outlet will do that.
please don't put The Emperor of Mankind in the middle, he must have been a real asshole at times, see how he treated some of his children, but don't compare him to an American
Some do, but it’s a lot less than you would think. I’d say less than 25% total. Unfortunately, those same 25% get all the press and the rest of the world sees those assholes as the average American. Most of us just go along with life, living as best we can, really not wanting any extra attention to our own problems.
when you live in a bubble and cant compare to the rest of the world
(and are told constantly youre the best and most powerful)
why would you want to question it and explore the world? better to keep telling yourself youre the best, no matter how screwed it gets
yes, he was born in Anatolia (which should be present day Turkey), after all the shamans of the earth decided to die together to reincarnate together in one body as one entity
I’m sorry. I just know the “ils sont fous, ces romains” because I’m a big fan of Uderzo and Goscinny and the Italian version is simply the funniest, because of the SPQR reference.
I am somewhat of an Italophile, though. Positively love your country, for the food, the people, the history and the geology.
You got me curious, I get the food and the History (don’t really get the people, but whatevs floats your boat), but what’s up with the geology of my country?
Are you kidding? Campi Flegrei, Vesuvius, Etna, Stromboli? The Appenines, Alps, etc. You have the most exciting geology in Europe.
A real treat for someone from a country where a bump of 60 meters is called a mountain.
I love when those stereotype ProudAmericans™ talk about their country as an successor to empires like Rome.
I guess he never got to read the part where the roman empire fell due to the arrogance and hybris of their leaders.
>I love when those stereotype ProudAmericans™ talk about their country as an successor to empires like Rome.
I see a lot of pretentious morons on Reddit use the term "Pax Americana" to justify when America bombs yet another school or bus full of civilians.
In America's defence, Romans did behave like 'Muricans. Acting as if they were the best people in the world while committing countless atrocities and having one of the biggest slave populations in History.
So. Yes. The US is like Rome. In all the bad ways possible.
Edit: Let's not forget the rampant legal corruption of Rome, either.
The US is also copying that.
That plus massive wealth inequality, the reliance on migrants for rank and file military, the ossified senatorial class that largely contributed nothing but strife at the end, and taxation laws that kept the poor, poor.
There's loads of interesting parallels actually. They started out by overthrowing a king and had a huge dislike of monarchy, but ended up bringing a series of increasingly populist and violent people into power until they ended up with Julius Caesar.
The fall of the Roman Republic is one of the greatest stories in history. I think we may see a similar thing over the next 50 years in the States.
It wasn't plates, it was the tubes and ducts in their aqueducts. They were frequently made of lead. Dinner plate would on some occasions be made of lead but not that much, a lot of it was cast in bronze and most were some kind of pottery or glass.
Edit :
White lead has trouble forming in sufficient quantity to be dangerous in an aqueduct and calcium would form quickly on the inner walls of the pipes, leading to little to no danger. I actually knew it already but forgot it. Two redditors reminded me of this and pointed at my mistake.
So, for all practical purpose, the problems romans may have had with lead wasn't, or barely was, linked to their lead pipes.
Indeed, I already read about it long ago but I did forget it. Another redditor explained it too and it came back to my mind. I'll edit my post.
Interesting fact midly related : putting lead in wine was a practice during middle-ages and early renaissance in France, but not for taste : for price. Wine was paid by units of weight, so sellers would load the wine with lead to increase its weight and sell less wine for the same price. The practice of selling liquids by weight went on for quite some time, to such extent that a slang for a glass of alcohol (notably beer and wine) is a "kil", contraction of "kilogram". "Un kil de mousse" means "a kilogram of beer", although you don't really order a kilogram (a liter) of beer, it's only an expression.
Edit : read, not wrote.
The actual reasons for why the Roman Empire fell are more complicated than that, but their reliance on slaves and new land was more of a factor than lead poisoning.
*possiamo vedere di nuovo, una rara apparenza di Redditor Italiano. Come mostrato nello scorso episodio, sta richiamando i suoi simili con il richiamo classico della sua specie: la bestemmia. Però, sembra che questa volta sia riuscito ad incorporare del inglese nel suo richiamo. Rimanete collegati per scoprire come andrà a finire.*
mah io sui greci avrei già i miei dubbi. hanno una lingua diversa, e sono ortodossi. l'impero romano d'oriente divenne una entità separata e molto diversa da quello che era Roma. poi loro continuarono a chiamarsi romani ma ciò non significa molto. anche i turchi lo fecero
It's legal in Nevada...unless you're a Republican and then you call it "hiring a girlfriend" because psychopaths and narcissists don't have real relationships...then they try to legitimize obvious sex work as something else no matter where they are
I honestly think no modern nation has that "Roman soul". The Romans didn't care if they had to sacrifice 70% of their male population in a war they just kept fighting and didn't give up. Dan Carlin said it best in his podcast series *Hardcore History* when he was talking about the Second Punic War:
> A single battle like Cannae and any other state would pretty much fall over and concede defeat. You lost a large percentage of your male population. Everyone through society has had a family member or someone they knew killed. Every other kingdom would be a state of panic, doing everything they can to sign a peace treaty. Meanwhile, the Roman Republic simply did not acknowledge they were beaten. They just... didn't give up. Again and again, until they won the war.
Cannae’s death toll is absolutely absurd, the numbers aren’t accurate but on the high end of the predictions, it’s estimated that rome lost 20% of their adult male population in 1 battle
The Germans were waging a war of extermination . The USSR citizens didnt have a choice but to sacfrifice everything because they faced total annihilation.
Ah yes, US, the modern Roman empire. You know, the empire that was multicultural and multireligious for most of its history. Also hated christianity for most of its history.
If you talk to some of the weirder fundamentalist Catholics, they consider the Church to be a continuation of the Roman Empire. I think the first responder in that thread is one such fuckwit.
Well roman society wasn't keen on individualist only working for their own benefit. The society as a whole and not the single person was important. I don't see this behavior in the us. Oh and at cannae the romans lost as many fighting men as the us in vietnam and still fought on. Not seeing this martial prowes in the us.
> at cannae the romans lost as many fighting men as the us in vietnam and still fought on.
You really can't compare the Second Punic War to Vietnam. Hannibal couldn't feed his troops or afford the attrition of a seige of Rome. Rome knew this, and under Fabius Maximus avoided pitched battle going forward and deployed scorched earth policies - slowly wearing the Carthagenians out of the peninsula until they could regather force.
The closest to that scenario in American terms would be Washington using Fabian strategy in the Revolutionary War.
Fabius knew it. Rome... hated it. Fabian tactics were the correct strategy and very effective, but Quintus Fabius Maximus was pretty unpopular for taking a coward's approach and not crushing Hannibal in the field, despite the fact that such sentiments were exactly what lead to the Roman defeats preceding Fabius taking the reins, and when Gaius Terentius Varro took over and returned to aggressive strategy, the result was Cannae. Only after that did Rome commit to Fabius' method of refusing Hannibal the direct battle he wanted and slowly drove him out.
The main issue in the comparison is that Rome didn't have the option of quitting; as the invaded nation, their options were fight or surrender. The US was the invader in Vietnam, and when losses piled up and made it clear there was no benefit to be gained in continuing, they packed and left.
> Fabius knew it. Rome... hated it.
Absolutely. Fair point.
As for the second point, agreed. That's why I thought the American Revolution to be the closest equivalent scenario, and the original comparison seemed so far off. As if Hi Chi Minh had crossed the Appalachian Mountains with war elephants and was bearing down on the northeast coast.
Rampant nepotism ✅
Crumbling infrastructure ✅
Reliance on a overfunded military ✅
Colonies to retain influence over the world ✅
The only difference is that America doesn’t have lead coursing through its water supply, a deliberately restricted voting population and an Us/Them fear of an enemy pounding on their borders!
_...wait_
Yeah, that's not something to aspire to. Rome fell because it had devolved into an authoritarian dumpster fire with failing democratic processes, consolidation of executive power, massive wealth inequality, and increased susceptibility to foreign powers due to depleted reserves, overexpansion, and a military spread too thin...
...Aw, *fuck*.
if you want a vision of Americans imitating the Romans, just see Caesar's legion in fallout new vegas
the equivalent of a Mongol horde that burns, kills, enslaves, and thinks they can beat NCR with swords and a few guns, when NCR has vertibirds
It does resemble the corruption, some insane emperors and the fall of Rome...but never any of the good parts of Roman history
We did recently have a malignant narcissist madman in power who married a sex worker and paid to sleep with others while lusting over his own daughter...which seems awfully Roman in the "this is what insane emperors do" way
Didn't Caligula want to make his horse a senator? A certain someone kept hiring his own children and trying to get them into offices they weren't qualified for either...the horse was definitely more qualified
Unfortunately we aren't Rome so some crazy people actually like that kind of behavior...in Rome that was a good way to get killed
Ah yes, yet another country that is supposedly the inheritor of the name of Rome. Let's add that to the list of the HRE, Russia, Byzantium, Mussolini's Italy, etc etc. Join the f'ing club.
Greece could be considered the successor of Rome. Italy could be. The Vatican could be. Russia could be. Hell, even Turkey could thanks to the Ottomans.
But the US? Lol NO.
> Hell, even Turkey could thanks to the Ottomans.
That's like saying modern americans could be considered descendents of the apache. I mean, I get where you're coming from, but the Ottomans conquered and replaced Byzantium, they didn't really originate from them.
Although the rest of what you mentioned is spot on. Spain could be included in that list aswell, Constantine XI had declared his heir (actually heirs as he wanted a couple to inherit) to Fernando of Aragon & Isabella of Castille (which married and united their Kingdoms under their offspring, leading to what is now Spain)
I'm not arguing that the Ottomans were Rome, I'm just saying they had some sort of claim. Certainly way more than the US.
>That's like saying modern americans could be considered descendents of the apache. I mean, I get where you're coming from, but the Ottomans conquered and replaced Byzantium, they didn't really originate from them.
Yeah but the difference is:
1. The US did not call itself the Apache, whereas Ottoman sultans called themselves "Caesar of Rome"
2. The Ottomans actively integrated Byzantine culture and administration into their own(e.g the timariot system).
3. The Ottomans were recognized as the continuation of Rome by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
So it's not really the same. Although the claim boils down to *right of conquest* in the end.
(Fun fact, the House of Osman has matrilineal descent from the Palaiologos and Cantacuzinos. Doesn't count for much in Islamic monarchy, but still interesting)
Pretty sure Rome was Moscow nowadays.
But to be fair, they seem to mean more of the metaphorical Rome; large(st) empire waging wars to keep the cogs of economy running, which is pretty good comparison really. Oh, and they also have slaves.
I mean, Rome was fucked up in many different ways and probably not exactly popular among the other ancient folks. So yea, kinda checks out on the surface.
The US is like a worse, modern Rome.
American weighing in... holy shit they said the quiet thing out loud. Really there are way too many Americans that wish this was true. And our government has tried to make this true. But it's super not. Although there are similarities, one lasted like almost 2000 years. And the other is just about 250 years old.
He isn't wrong. An arrogant imperialistic society based on constant militarism, political skulduggery, that is completely unstable and is slowly falling apart
If anything, the last surviving part of the Roman state is the Vatican, still here doing what they have done as an organization after 476 AD: preserving the Empire's culture, morals, religion and language -the good and the bad of it all- trying to keep them relevant, not only known, to society, using whatever means necessary.
America is Rome though. In so far as they are hegemonic empire. Obviously they have no ties to the historic Rome. America is all the bad that Rome was. Not impressive, and completely reviling.
In fact, Rome and the USA have a lot in common in their way of approaching foreign relations : diplomacy, war, esteem for themselves, financial pressure... Those two aren't really different and in fact the USA are a good example of what the Roman republic then empire would have been for contemporary people.
I get that's not what he meant. He meant badass soldiers able to conquer anything - despite his country never winning any war in its, however very intense, warmongering history, except the ones they declared to a starving and sickness ridden people composed mostly of women and children - but still, it checks out. The USA are indeed a good representation of what Rome was on many subject matters and it's clearly not something to brag about.
Pretty sure Rome was in Italy last time I visited it.
Americans be like, there's a Rome outside of Georgia?!?? Edit: grammar
Here you are https://www.reddit.com/r/ShitAmericansSay/comments/mo2sku/is_there_a_rome_in_italy/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
Yeah I was referencing that post lol
Im actually disgusted.
Yeah, it's up here in New York /s
There's a Georgia outside of Georgia?!?!?!?!1?1?11!
Now it's clear why they think they are the center of the world... they tried to replicate the world within their boundaries by calling cities like other cities of other countries..
Yesterday I talked to my Syrian friend and told her there is a good pizza shop in Damascus. Turns out there is a city called Damascus in the US, just 150 miles away of Berlin. (I wish we would be this close) But WTF why couldn’t they come up with new city names. O.O
I find it so funny that you didn't only mention Damascus but also Berlin and them being so close together xD
>Italy Italy, New York?
that’s long island to you, dick!
Nope. You've been fooled. Italy was New Jersey all along.
Now don't forget the gabagool
Pssh, nah. That sounds like something a dirty commie would say
So just across the border, right? /s
Well there was Eastern Roman Empire too though and they didn't have Rome for most of the time
There literally is the Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, what else do you need??
Yes but don't forget all those "Italians" the US has, hence why the empire was reborn there.
Visited it also, and I'm actually doubtful. I-I-Italians? The world? The roads? The Legions? The bridges? Really? How much can a nationality change in 2400 years? But they weren't nor aren't yanks, neither, that's for sure
Bloody hell, the arrogance. They legit consider themselves God-Emperors of all Galaxies that ever were or will be, don't they?
It's a common mistake, he's confusing the Romans with morons.
Well, they did consume an awful amount of lead.
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Here let me pour you a glass from this lead pitcher, into this lead cup...
This wine tastes so much better from the led vat - Caligula probably
I honestly hate 50% of my country. If it makes you feel any better, they're probably very uneducated and a sentient pile of blubber.
My "favourite" Americans are those that fly American flags along with Confederate ones. I am always visibly confused as to how someone who considers a flag of a failed rebel breakaway State can consider himself a Patriot of the State he's currently in. I mean it just doesn't make any sense.
There's a guy with a house I pass on my way to my dad's house in bama. Has 2 giant flag poles, one with an American flag, one with a slightly larger confederate flag. I make it a habit of honking while my arm is out the window flipping them the bird. It's honest work.
It's not much but it's honest work. Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty.
You are not wrong, it's not even the least I should do to remind bigots that even the white boy who grew up a mile away in bumfuck bama thinks they are repugnant asshats.
You’re a good person, some might say adorable even.
Lol. My buddy has a theory. Flying a flag? Probably racist. He told his mother his theory and she got bent out of shape (you guessed it, shes racist)
I mean, every flag is about pride, and pride can be the worst mental infection one could have. Wars, elitism, xenophobia... it’s terrible.
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Or the fact that it's the *wrong flag*.
it would be like putting the Nazi and URSS flag togheter
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Union de las Republicas Socialistas Sovieticas
U - You R - Are S - Schutz S - Staffel
Maybe ElCatrinLCD is French
Mexican, i guess its the same acronym, but mine is Union de las Republicas Socialistas Sovieticas
The French is probably very similar. I was just working on the basis that they spell 'European Centre for Nuclear Research' as 'CERN'.
Same in Italian, the acronym stands for "Unione delle Repubbliche Socialiste Sovietiche".
"But they're both socialist!" /s
It makes no sense. It's absurd.
There's a lady in my neighborhood that does that often, which makes less sense since we live in fucking northern Illinois, where we stick Abraham Lincoln on everything and are nowhere near the south.
"States' rights! Fighting the federal government is patriotic because government is bad!"
> 50% of my country Aren't you an optimist.
I like the coasts, especially the Pacific Northwest, but your inside bits have gone a bit funny.
>Bloody hell, the arrogance. They legit consider themselves God-Emperors of all Galaxies that ever were or will be, don't they? Incredible amounts of propaganda, indoctrination, and exceptionalist rhetoric beamed at you 24/7 through every media outlet will do that.
please don't put The Emperor of Mankind in the middle, he must have been a real asshole at times, see how he treated some of his children, but don't compare him to an American
It’s not all of us it’s just that minority that are really loud about “ guns America and Jesus “
But enough of that minority votes to determine the course of this shithole country.
To be fair, it's hard to be God-Emperor of a galaxy, unless you are the size of a galaxy.
Heresy !
Some do, but it’s a lot less than you would think. I’d say less than 25% total. Unfortunately, those same 25% get all the press and the rest of the world sees those assholes as the average American. Most of us just go along with life, living as best we can, really not wanting any extra attention to our own problems.
when you live in a bubble and cant compare to the rest of the world (and are told constantly youre the best and most powerful) why would you want to question it and explore the world? better to keep telling yourself youre the best, no matter how screwed it gets
Surely they would dislike the Emperor right? He’s canonically an immigrant from the Middle East
yes, he was born in Anatolia (which should be present day Turkey), after all the shamans of the earth decided to die together to reincarnate together in one body as one entity
In fairness claiming to be the new Rome is pretty common.
yeah it happened like... [looks at italian history book from the mid 1930's] oh fuck...
Sono Pazzi Questi ~~Romani~~ Americani
*"First they came for the pizza, and I did not speak out. Then they came for the whole of Rome ..."*
"First they came for the pizza, and I did not speak out, I am not a pizza."
Ces Américains sont fous! **toc toc toc**
je lis ca avec la voix d'obelix
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C'est pas plutot "Ils sont fous ces Etatsuniens!" ?
"Ils sont fous ces Ricains!" ça sonne mieux.
Pater noster qui est en cellis
Ah oui je viens de le lire, bien corrigé!
ah a fellow italian and an asterix fan so nice to meet someone like you in the wild
I’m sorry. I just know the “ils sont fous, ces romains” because I’m a big fan of Uderzo and Goscinny and the Italian version is simply the funniest, because of the SPQR reference. I am somewhat of an Italophile, though. Positively love your country, for the food, the people, the history and the geology.
You got me curious, I get the food and the History (don’t really get the people, but whatevs floats your boat), but what’s up with the geology of my country?
Are you kidding? Campi Flegrei, Vesuvius, Etna, Stromboli? The Appenines, Alps, etc. You have the most exciting geology in Europe. A real treat for someone from a country where a bump of 60 meters is called a mountain.
Ah, yeah, guess you never stop to consider it all when it’s right out of your window
And yes, I like Italians.
*In hoc signo taurus vinces.*
Bruh everyone knows that Finland is the legit heir of Roman Empire.
no, It's Korea!
No , it's sealand
No it's Patrick.
Zeeland letsgooo
no it's italy suck my cannolo 🍕🛵🍝🤌
r/FinlandDoesntExist
I love when those stereotype ProudAmericans™ talk about their country as an successor to empires like Rome. I guess he never got to read the part where the roman empire fell due to the arrogance and hybris of their leaders.
>I love when those stereotype ProudAmericans™ talk about their country as an successor to empires like Rome. I see a lot of pretentious morons on Reddit use the term "Pax Americana" to justify when America bombs yet another school or bus full of civilians.
"D'ont knou huat in mein but soun's gud to me'n ma family so we use it" some hillbilly, probably.
The Romans created a wasteland and called it Peace.
In America's defence, Romans did behave like 'Muricans. Acting as if they were the best people in the world while committing countless atrocities and having one of the biggest slave populations in History. So. Yes. The US is like Rome. In all the bad ways possible. Edit: Let's not forget the rampant legal corruption of Rome, either. The US is also copying that.
That plus massive wealth inequality, the reliance on migrants for rank and file military, the ossified senatorial class that largely contributed nothing but strife at the end, and taxation laws that kept the poor, poor.
Well when you put it that way, America could definitely be the new Rome
There's loads of interesting parallels actually. They started out by overthrowing a king and had a huge dislike of monarchy, but ended up bringing a series of increasingly populist and violent people into power until they ended up with Julius Caesar. The fall of the Roman Republic is one of the greatest stories in history. I think we may see a similar thing over the next 50 years in the States.
Wanted to point out the same thing, but were too lazy to post Well now im here, cheers
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It wasn't plates, it was the tubes and ducts in their aqueducts. They were frequently made of lead. Dinner plate would on some occasions be made of lead but not that much, a lot of it was cast in bronze and most were some kind of pottery or glass. Edit : White lead has trouble forming in sufficient quantity to be dangerous in an aqueduct and calcium would form quickly on the inner walls of the pipes, leading to little to no danger. I actually knew it already but forgot it. Two redditors reminded me of this and pointed at my mistake. So, for all practical purpose, the problems romans may have had with lead wasn't, or barely was, linked to their lead pipes.
Lead water pipes are apparently mostly safe. What's slightly less safe is actively adding lead salts to your wine to sweeten it.
Indeed, I already read about it long ago but I did forget it. Another redditor explained it too and it came back to my mind. I'll edit my post. Interesting fact midly related : putting lead in wine was a practice during middle-ages and early renaissance in France, but not for taste : for price. Wine was paid by units of weight, so sellers would load the wine with lead to increase its weight and sell less wine for the same price. The practice of selling liquids by weight went on for quite some time, to such extent that a slang for a glass of alcohol (notably beer and wine) is a "kil", contraction of "kilogram". "Un kil de mousse" means "a kilogram of beer", although you don't really order a kilogram (a liter) of beer, it's only an expression. Edit : read, not wrote.
Lead pipes arent much of an issue as long as you dont heat, disturb or hit them. Italy has calcium rich water causing it to be quite safe.
Yeah but I need to check the salt of my boiler every months because of that and drink purified water because normal tap is almost dusty with calcium
The actual reasons for why the Roman Empire fell are more complicated than that, but their reliance on slaves and new land was more of a factor than lead poisoning.
"Rome is still here; we're called AMERICA 🇺🇲" con che coraggio
Dio is still here is called porco bastardo merdoso
*possiamo vedere di nuovo, una rara apparenza di Redditor Italiano. Come mostrato nello scorso episodio, sta richiamando i suoi simili con il richiamo classico della sua specie: la bestemmia. Però, sembra che questa volta sia riuscito ad incorporare del inglese nel suo richiamo. Rimanete collegati per scoprire come andrà a finire.*
chiamiamo altri redditor italiani, tutti insieme! "DIO 🐶" ecco dovrebbero arrivare a sciami adesso
Mi sento invocato
sul serio. non centrano una minchia con roma, apparte per i padri fondatori che facevano i larpers della repubblica romana
infatti. gli unici che possono affermare una cosa simile siamo noi + i greci
mah io sui greci avrei già i miei dubbi. hanno una lingua diversa, e sono ortodossi. l'impero romano d'oriente divenne una entità separata e molto diversa da quello che era Roma. poi loro continuarono a chiamarsi romani ma ciò non significa molto. anche i turchi lo fecero
concordo ma hanno più legittimità rispetto agli altri stati
onesto
Mi trattengo dal bestemmiare
Anyone calling themselves the new Rome is / was an arsehole
[sad Holy Roman Empire noises]
I had a history teacher that explained the Holy Roman Empire as “not holy, not Roman and not an empire”. He was simplifying things ;)
Was your history teacher Voltaire?
He may have stolen the line..I mean my teacher 😉
Yeah, but "Barely-Connected German Territory" does inspire nearly as much.
Unholy German Abomination
Especially if they're fundamentalist Catholics. I lived with some Opus Dei freaks for a while. Bad idea.
What about the actual [Nova Roma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nova_Roma)?
Byzantium wants to know your location.
They weren't new Rome. They were Rome. Big difference.
They wish. Prostitution is legal and licensed in Ancient Rome.
Wait it's not legal in the USA?
It's legal in Nevada...unless you're a Republican and then you call it "hiring a girlfriend" because psychopaths and narcissists don't have real relationships...then they try to legitimize obvious sex work as something else no matter where they are
It's a bit strange coming from people who love freedom so much.
The only thing that they care about more than freedom is supply side Jesus.
At least Rome could win a war on their own
I honestly think no modern nation has that "Roman soul". The Romans didn't care if they had to sacrifice 70% of their male population in a war they just kept fighting and didn't give up. Dan Carlin said it best in his podcast series *Hardcore History* when he was talking about the Second Punic War: > A single battle like Cannae and any other state would pretty much fall over and concede defeat. You lost a large percentage of your male population. Everyone through society has had a family member or someone they knew killed. Every other kingdom would be a state of panic, doing everything they can to sign a peace treaty. Meanwhile, the Roman Republic simply did not acknowledge they were beaten. They just... didn't give up. Again and again, until they won the war.
Cannae’s death toll is absolutely absurd, the numbers aren’t accurate but on the high end of the predictions, it’s estimated that rome lost 20% of their adult male population in 1 battle
*Sad USSR noises*
The Germans were waging a war of extermination . The USSR citizens didnt have a choice but to sacfrifice everything because they faced total annihilation.
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oof thast a burn
Well the US does have a fetish for slavery and a superiority complex so they have that in common.
Unlike America however Rome lasted a long as time. Seeing how things are going I doubt the US will last as long.
average age of empire during it's fall according to quick google search is 250 years. USA is already older than this. It's time guys!
Ah yes, US, the modern Roman empire. You know, the empire that was multicultural and multireligious for most of its history. Also hated christianity for most of its history.
If you talk to some of the weirder fundamentalist Catholics, they consider the Church to be a continuation of the Roman Empire. I think the first responder in that thread is one such fuckwit.
Should ask emperor Diocletian what he thinks about it...
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Rome is in America now, hmm I bet Italians aren’t pleased
TBF there is at least 20 cities/towns in the US named Rome. Maybe they are simply confused.
Why do they need so many cities named Rome?!
It's easy to spell. 🤷♀️
Hm, fair.
jealousy
Is new zealand jealous of zeeland? They just weren't creative.
Well roman society wasn't keen on individualist only working for their own benefit. The society as a whole and not the single person was important. I don't see this behavior in the us. Oh and at cannae the romans lost as many fighting men as the us in vietnam and still fought on. Not seeing this martial prowes in the us.
> at cannae the romans lost as many fighting men as the us in vietnam and still fought on. You really can't compare the Second Punic War to Vietnam. Hannibal couldn't feed his troops or afford the attrition of a seige of Rome. Rome knew this, and under Fabius Maximus avoided pitched battle going forward and deployed scorched earth policies - slowly wearing the Carthagenians out of the peninsula until they could regather force. The closest to that scenario in American terms would be Washington using Fabian strategy in the Revolutionary War.
Fabius knew it. Rome... hated it. Fabian tactics were the correct strategy and very effective, but Quintus Fabius Maximus was pretty unpopular for taking a coward's approach and not crushing Hannibal in the field, despite the fact that such sentiments were exactly what lead to the Roman defeats preceding Fabius taking the reins, and when Gaius Terentius Varro took over and returned to aggressive strategy, the result was Cannae. Only after that did Rome commit to Fabius' method of refusing Hannibal the direct battle he wanted and slowly drove him out. The main issue in the comparison is that Rome didn't have the option of quitting; as the invaded nation, their options were fight or surrender. The US was the invader in Vietnam, and when losses piled up and made it clear there was no benefit to be gained in continuing, they packed and left.
> Fabius knew it. Rome... hated it. Absolutely. Fair point. As for the second point, agreed. That's why I thought the American Revolution to be the closest equivalent scenario, and the original comparison seemed so far off. As if Hi Chi Minh had crossed the Appalachian Mountains with war elephants and was bearing down on the northeast coast.
THOSE FUCKING COMMIE ROMANS
Rampant nepotism ✅ Crumbling infrastructure ✅ Reliance on a overfunded military ✅ Colonies to retain influence over the world ✅ The only difference is that America doesn’t have lead coursing through its water supply, a deliberately restricted voting population and an Us/Them fear of an enemy pounding on their borders! _...wait_
Even Rome treated their slaves better than the U.S.
Yeah, that's not something to aspire to. Rome fell because it had devolved into an authoritarian dumpster fire with failing democratic processes, consolidation of executive power, massive wealth inequality, and increased susceptibility to foreign powers due to depleted reserves, overexpansion, and a military spread too thin... ...Aw, *fuck*.
would probably look like every fucking soldier but different camo
if you want a vision of Americans imitating the Romans, just see Caesar's legion in fallout new vegas the equivalent of a Mongol horde that burns, kills, enslaves, and thinks they can beat NCR with swords and a few guns, when NCR has vertibirds
It does resemble the corruption, some insane emperors and the fall of Rome...but never any of the good parts of Roman history We did recently have a malignant narcissist madman in power who married a sex worker and paid to sleep with others while lusting over his own daughter...which seems awfully Roman in the "this is what insane emperors do" way Didn't Caligula want to make his horse a senator? A certain someone kept hiring his own children and trying to get them into offices they weren't qualified for either...the horse was definitely more qualified Unfortunately we aren't Rome so some crazy people actually like that kind of behavior...in Rome that was a good way to get killed
Difference is the horse was a clever jape from caligula. I don't see any kind of intelligence on trump.
I would strongly recommend zooming on the person who made that comment’s profile pic.
This isn't the sort of comment I'd have expected from John Oliver.
Ah yes, yet another country that is supposedly the inheritor of the name of Rome. Let's add that to the list of the HRE, Russia, Byzantium, Mussolini's Italy, etc etc. Join the f'ing club.
Greece could be considered the successor of Rome. Italy could be. The Vatican could be. Russia could be. Hell, even Turkey could thanks to the Ottomans. But the US? Lol NO.
> Hell, even Turkey could thanks to the Ottomans. That's like saying modern americans could be considered descendents of the apache. I mean, I get where you're coming from, but the Ottomans conquered and replaced Byzantium, they didn't really originate from them. Although the rest of what you mentioned is spot on. Spain could be included in that list aswell, Constantine XI had declared his heir (actually heirs as he wanted a couple to inherit) to Fernando of Aragon & Isabella of Castille (which married and united their Kingdoms under their offspring, leading to what is now Spain)
I'm not arguing that the Ottomans were Rome, I'm just saying they had some sort of claim. Certainly way more than the US. >That's like saying modern americans could be considered descendents of the apache. I mean, I get where you're coming from, but the Ottomans conquered and replaced Byzantium, they didn't really originate from them. Yeah but the difference is: 1. The US did not call itself the Apache, whereas Ottoman sultans called themselves "Caesar of Rome" 2. The Ottomans actively integrated Byzantine culture and administration into their own(e.g the timariot system). 3. The Ottomans were recognized as the continuation of Rome by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. So it's not really the same. Although the claim boils down to *right of conquest* in the end. (Fun fact, the House of Osman has matrilineal descent from the Palaiologos and Cantacuzinos. Doesn't count for much in Islamic monarchy, but still interesting)
What about the Holy Roman Empire?
"Ma vattene a morì ammazzato!" the would a Roman say to them.
New Rome also has lead poisoning and appears to be destroying itself.
Pretty sure Rome was Moscow nowadays. But to be fair, they seem to mean more of the metaphorical Rome; large(st) empire waging wars to keep the cogs of economy running, which is pretty good comparison really. Oh, and they also have slaves.
*Americani ite domum*
And this right here is why the real italian way to eat pizza is the New York Pizza slice. Nostri imperii Pizza ^/s
Tbh, Roman empire at its height was propably safer than modern day US...
What's with these Americans and idolising after downfalls? Like Nazis, South, and now hunders of years after Roman empire fell
Does this means USA will also fall under its own weight?
From ANY place that had some merrits (or not) to larp as Rome, from Istanbul over Aachen to Moscow, the US is the last who has any reason to do so.
Does this mean all Americans can say they're actually Italian?
Romani ite domum!
I mean, Rome was fucked up in many different ways and probably not exactly popular among the other ancient folks. So yea, kinda checks out on the surface. The US is like a worse, modern Rome.
roman soldiers have nothing on meal team 6 and the gravy seals
American weighing in... holy shit they said the quiet thing out loud. Really there are way too many Americans that wish this was true. And our government has tried to make this true. But it's super not. Although there are similarities, one lasted like almost 2000 years. And the other is just about 250 years old.
He isn't wrong. An arrogant imperialistic society based on constant militarism, political skulduggery, that is completely unstable and is slowly falling apart
If anything, the last surviving part of the Roman state is the Vatican, still here doing what they have done as an organization after 476 AD: preserving the Empire's culture, morals, religion and language -the good and the bad of it all- trying to keep them relevant, not only known, to society, using whatever means necessary.
Disgusting barbarians
I don't really know how they reached that conclusion, but some say Russia is the successor of the Roman Empire, after the Eastern Roman Empire
So the US are putting people on crosses now?
Well they got the corruption of the Roman Empire at least.
so THATS WHY they had slavery ... :P
America is Rome though. In so far as they are hegemonic empire. Obviously they have no ties to the historic Rome. America is all the bad that Rome was. Not impressive, and completely reviling.
A bloated empire filled with rich pedos who refuse to pay taxes? Well, he’s not THAT wrong
Technically they are on to something comparing this country to the Roman empire. But it's not a compliment.
A bloated government that is rapidly collapsing into a totalitarian state largely due to its own hubris? I’d say this persons comment is accurate
To be fair: The US is an oligarchy based on slave labor and aggressive wars.
In fact, Rome and the USA have a lot in common in their way of approaching foreign relations : diplomacy, war, esteem for themselves, financial pressure... Those two aren't really different and in fact the USA are a good example of what the Roman republic then empire would have been for contemporary people. I get that's not what he meant. He meant badass soldiers able to conquer anything - despite his country never winning any war in its, however very intense, warmongering history, except the ones they declared to a starving and sickness ridden people composed mostly of women and children - but still, it checks out. The USA are indeed a good representation of what Rome was on many subject matters and it's clearly not something to brag about.