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How to Roman Republic, Part IV: The Senate

acoup.blog

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Re: How to Roman Republic, Part IV: The Senate

#61

Post by 12907835202 »

henrikschroder wrote: post #55
bigstrat2003 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently read Rubicon by Tom Holland, and honestly I came away from that book feeling like it's Sulla, not Caesar, who truly deserves the blame for the downfall of the Republic. Like yeah, Caesar crossed the Rubicon, but that seal was broken decades earlier by Sulla. If Caesar hadn't done it, someone else would have because it was clear that there would be no real consequences as long as you could win the war. And…

> Rubicon by Tom Holland I'm currently listening my way through The Rest Is History, the podcast he does with Dominic Sandbrook. Very entertaning, highly recommended!

Worth starting from ep.1 or just diving in where it's at now?

Re: How to Roman Republic, Part IV: The Senate

#62

Post by [deleted] »

Jensson wrote: post #58
bcherry wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, it's because it's true. I really do think about the roman empire all the time! and my wife couldn't believe it. Most "trends" from TikTok are made up, stupid, fake, or highly exaggerated. This one is funny because it's actually kinda true for a LOT of people, and has nothing to do with TikTok.

Is it really that strange that people think about the Roman empire when things related to it are all around us? Even the white house is built to look Roman. Not to mention all the documentaries and games that touches on Roman stuff. If you ask men how often they think about different manufacturing processes you will probably get similar numbers, or even higher, for the same reason.

[deleted]

Re: How to Roman Republic, Part IV: The Senate

#63

Post by Rebelgecko »

Jensson wrote: post #46
belval wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has the be the funniest trend to come out of Tiktok. My SO point blank asked me how many times I thought about the roman empire and I replied "I don't know, once or twice a week". Little does she know we get a post from acoup every week! Reference (for those out of the loop): https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2023/09/18/how-ofte...

Why do people think that is funny? Edit: Why downvote a genuine question? How else would I learn why people find that funny?

I think people find it humorous because it's an unexpected instance of sexual dimorphism. Like a "Men are from Mars [not Ares]" kind of thing.

Re: How to Roman Republic, Part IV: The Senate

#64

Post by Jensson »

nullindividual wrote: post #51
Jensson wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do people think that is funny? Edit: Why downvote a genuine question? How else would I learn why people find that funny?

One might think that an individual who thinks about an empire that has been “dead” for nearly 1500 years is a bit strange. Why would anyone care about a dead empire, after all? The reason why it’s funny is because of how common people say they do think about the Roman empire (which for me is also quite often). It’s subverting expectations— you think no one thinks about the Empire— in reality, all of your family and n…

> Why would anyone care about a dead empire, after all?

Because it isn't dead culturally.

When you see a medieval castle you think about medieval things, when you see Roman architecture you think of Roman things, and since you see Roman architecture all the time in the news, like every time they show the white house etc, it makes sense your brain thinks about the Romans now and then.

Re: How to Roman Republic, Part IV: The Senate

#65

Post by Jensson »

Rebelgecko wrote: post #63
Jensson wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do people think that is funny? Edit: Why downvote a genuine question? How else would I learn why people find that funny?

I think people find it humorous because it's an unexpected instance of sexual dimorphism. Like a "Men are from Mars [not Ares]" kind of thing.

Since when is making fun of sexual dimorphism a thing? I thought we stopped doing that.

Like, would it be funny if men asked women how often they think about celebrity relationships and drama? People just think about different things.

Re: How to Roman Republic, Part IV: The Senate

#66

Post by red_admiral »

DylanSp wrote: post #30
philipov wrote: post #18

I hope he does a series like this on civic governance in Han China next!

As great as that would be, it's well out of Devereaux's area of specialization; I don't think he'd feel like he could do that topic justice. If you look up his older series on farming, he notes in the introduction and in his addendum on rice farming that he's not as familiar with Chinese history.

He does guest posts though, so maybe there's a chance?

Re: How to Roman Republic, Part IV: The Senate

#67

Post by jmkr »

seanw444 wrote: post #48
swasheck wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

my wife asked me and i said once per week. then she and my daughter cackled and asked me to repeat my answer and i knew i was about to become part of a trend so i refused. but isn't it fascinating how truly interested in the roman republic and emopire we are? people are coming up with theories about why this is the case but i'm not sure any of them resonate with me. i was always more of a greece person until i visite…

My answer to my girlfriend was that I think about ancient Greece more often. Rome less. Greece was ahead of its time in philosophy and science. So many household names. Rome has a lot of political analogs to today though, which is what I find interesting about it.

I've never been asked this question, but I think I'd respond similarly. In fact, when I think of Rome, I think of Greece. They are nearly inseparable for me, but that's probably because my understanding of history is the history of western philosophy. You start with the Socratics, then read about the neo-platonist in Rome.

Re: How to Roman Republic, Part IV: The Senate

#68

Post by acatnamedjoe »

Jensson wrote: post #58
bcherry wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, it's because it's true. I really do think about the roman empire all the time! and my wife couldn't believe it. Most "trends" from TikTok are made up, stupid, fake, or highly exaggerated. This one is funny because it's actually kinda true for a LOT of people, and has nothing to do with TikTok.

Is it really that strange that people think about the Roman empire when things related to it are all around us? Even the white house is built to look Roman. Not to mention all the documentaries and games that touches on Roman stuff. If you ask men how often they think about different manufacturing processes you will probably get similar numbers, or even higher, for the same reason.

I don't think it's funny because it's "strange". It's funny because it reminds people that they can have very different inner worlds to people they share their life with.

Re: How to Roman Republic, Part IV: The Senate

#69

Post by jmkr »

lo_zamoyski wrote: post #59
seanw444 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My answer to my girlfriend was that I think about ancient Greece more often. Rome less. Greece was ahead of its time in philosophy and science. So many household names. Rome has a lot of political analogs to today though, which is what I find interesting about it.

> Greece was ahead of its time in philosophy and science And some would say that, philosophically, while we have the potential benefit of hindsight and therefore the opportunity to exceed the Greeks (you just need to crack open the right books), our typical modern, academic philosophy, is in many ways, inferior to it.

This is a strange comment because not only is academic philosophy built from the Greek tradition, but it is formalized. Maybe one can say it stagnated for centuries but I find it difficult to say that the work in the 20th century is inferior.

I wouldn't say that about comparing Hilbert to Pythagoras, and this is not putting down history of knowledge.

Re: How to Roman Republic, Part IV: The Senate

#70

Post by lotsoweiners »

Jensson wrote: post #65
Rebelgecko wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think people find it humorous because it's an unexpected instance of sexual dimorphism. Like a "Men are from Mars [not Ares]" kind of thing.

Since when is making fun of sexual dimorphism a thing? I thought we stopped doing that. Like, would it be funny if men asked women how often they think about celebrity relationships and drama? People just think about different things.

Maybe nerds on the internet stopped doing that but plenty of my coworkers and people I meet in everyday life aren’t competing for “woke” points.
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