There are probably a number of more Roman cultural hallmarks around than what are mentioned in the article but they don’t have something that sounds like Rome in the name. Some tenuous stuff here that is quite random, but hey I clicked.
The last Romans are still around
161–170 of 245 posts
Re: The last Romans are still around
#162Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Don't know why this was down voted I have noticed a trend of challenges to unspoken assumptions being down voted. I don't know if it's being read as being argumentative/low effort. I agree with you and the parent. How do you define ethnically Roman? Those from the city of Rome? Some average of the empire? What about when it split in 2? Is ethnicity even important? What ethnicity do you have to be, to be USian??? Bri…
Americans are whatever, British ethnicity is a thing though
British ethnicity is complicated. English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish? If Northern Irish then loyalist or republican? Do you count the Cornish separately? Germanic or Celtic? Norman ancestry.
Its not defined by genetics. A very high proportion of "white British" people I know (that is of those who have told me!) turn out to have all kinds of ancestry (Indian, Romany, and Polish examples come to mind) in recent generations.
Genetics do not refine race/ethnicity, culture and cultural definitions do. Americans have definitions even the culturally similar British do not understand (e.g. hispanic, white passing black). I am defined differently in different countries: https://pietersz.co.uk/2023/08/racism-culture-different
Re: The last Romans are still around
#163Earlier quoted context omitted.
Rome was famously multi-ethnic. This is sort of like asking who are the "ethnic Americans". It's just the wrong question to ask.
What do you mean? Native American Indians are exactly ethnic Americans. The rest are from other ethnicities. Just as there were (are) ethnic Romans.
[dead]
Re: The last Romans are still around
#164Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ethnicity is hard to define and a term that spurs a lot of debate. Therefore I think it is best avoided in serious discussion. For America (and in extension the american continent) it is quite clear who is ethnically native, actually it is probably one of the clearest examples there is partly because it is near in history. And already it gets messy when you dig deeper because of limited record keeping etc. Broadly in…
The americas are really big. Grouping every person "pre columbus" into a single bucket is wrong
Its as good as you are going to find in grouping people by ancestry.
Re: The last Romans are still around
#165Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's not true. Roman citizenship was sacrosant, there was even a war during the late Roman Republic time between the Romans and allied Italians https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_War_(91%E2%80%9387_BC) fought over it. During the Roman Empire, Caracalla extended citizenship to everyone mainly to spite the Senate.
Can you provide another source for that? There are two threads in the ancient accounts: one depicting the struggle as one for Roman citizenship and another as one against Roman domination. The war in article you link seems to be fought over the Italian towns wanting to maintain control over their lands and people, not religion. The following two articles barely mention religious status. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
I was using the word 'sacrosanct' in a figurative way.
Re: The last Romans are still around
#166Earlier quoted context omitted.
Rome was famously multi-ethnic. This is sort of like asking who are the "ethnic Americans". It's just the wrong question to ask.
Kind of. The empire was multi ethnic and so are modern Americans however often the question is about the foundation. Who are the descendants of the foundational Romans. Did they get diluted into oblivion? For Americans it’s easier as we can trace descendants of the founders of the nation. Of course Britain itself is the result of many waves of immigration, the neolithic, the celts, picts, romans, jutes, angles, saxon…
And according to Vergilius (aka Virgil), the foundational Romans were immigrants from Asia Minor. In this allegory, the "native Italians" are the Etruscans and Sabines (among others), and the Aeneid was the Roman version of manifest destiny.
Re: The last Romans are still around
#167Earlier quoted context omitted.
Americans are whatever, British ethnicity is a thing though
Ok. So is a french person more British than a 5th generation black person? Surely 'ethnic americans' are Native North Americans? This is the thing. Ethnicity gets wrapped up in a value judgement. We don't want to talk about ethnic Americans, but are willing to talk about ethnic Britons. Which then implies some rights those ethnic groups should have. But I would dare say the majority of 'ethnic Britons' wouldn't ident…
English, Welsh and probably some kind of Scottish ethnicity are probably a thing. DNA + history + cultural habits including language.
But on this topic the concept of German ethnogenesis is very interesting. The formation of Gothic identity and communities even more, though sources are extremely scarce and it's more of a mystery.
Re: The last Romans are still around
#168Just wait for Hollywood to create a film about Roman mythology and not cast a single Roman! But less tongue-in-cheek, the other thing is that the legacy of the Romans is pretty much all around us. The Roman Calendar (with July and August both referencing a Roman leader), the Latin alphabet (with the additional letters like 'y' being added later on to support Greek), the roads we can travel, etc.
They're always British in film for some reason
Not in the underrated movie The Eagle! In that one, the soldier from the world's dominant global empire has an American accent, and the actual Briton slave has a British accent.
Re: The last Romans are still around
#169Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or alterntively, that it's a relatively modern addition to add to it's mystique for tourism purposes. When did SPQR get added to the manhole covers and does anything else in Rome use similar signage?
As a Roman, this is a bit painful to read. I will play fair and assume you are not trying to say that the only thing there is to my city is tourist attractions. The answer is no (and you can easily look this up). SPQR has been used continually since the Roman Empire, through the Middle Ages, by the Fascists and into the modern era by the current administration. You will find it everywhere, even far removed from touri…
[dead]
Re: The last Romans are still around
#170Earlier quoted context omitted.
You seem to be taking ethnicity pretty serious for a guy who says it should be avoided in serious debate. I take language and debate serious. For example, the genetic line of what your calling the clearly Native Americans traces back to Asia. You've arbitrarily decided that their ethnicity is defined at a certain time in their lineage. Why aren't they Asians or even Africans? Yes I have arbitrarily decided, based on…
are you an alt account for benj111?
No i don't know who that is.