Way more often than you’d think (Picture: Getty)
It’s the question everybody wants to know the answer to, the riddle we long to be solved, the query on the tips of our tongue: ‘Babe, how often do you think about the Roman Empire?’.
Not been online much this week? Well, let me explain: women on TikTok have discovered that men tend to think about the fallen Roman Empire a lot more than women, generally speaking.
We’re talking monthly at best and, in the many cases, daily.
The trend started on Instagram when Gaius Flavius, a Roman reenactor based in Sweden, shared an Instagram video stating that many of us (ladies) ‘do not realize how often men think about the Roman Empire.’
Women soon started asking their partners, friends and family members the now ubiquitous question, only to find out that Flavius was right.
Yes, really.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwIZgAKNbnQ/
The majority of women are, well, baffled, to learn their male counterparts are using up precious brain space to contemplate an Empire that fell more than 2,000 years ago.
Of course, we had to test out the theory IRL, so I reached out to my nearest and dearest to ask the all important question.
@ambarrail
This trend is incredible. Some of the best ones #romanempire #romanempirecompilation
♬ original sound – ambarrai
‘It’s just a bit mad how impressive it was,’ Oliver Simpkin, 25, tells Metro.co.uk, who thinks about the Roman Empire ‘easily three or four times a week’.
‘It was one of the biggest empires in the world, had huge political impact for loads of societies and you can still see its legacy in stuff like films and TV.’
Francis Mendiola, 27, says he thinks about the Romans at least three times a week.
‘The Roman Empire is one of the longest running empires in the world,’ he said.
‘And it went through ups and downs and transformations and tragedies and it still persisted after all that. It’s basically the most iconic civilization of all time.’
For Francis, the reason it stays so fresh in his mind, he believes, is his social media algorithms, from YouTube videos to Instagram meme accounts like the Daily Roman Updates Twitter account.
pic.twitter.com/dgaSFralZA
— Daily Roman Updates (@UpdatingOnRome) September 14, 2023
Others, like Charlie Glover, 24, who thinks about the Roman Empire daily, say it comes down to their interests.
‘There are a few reasons I think about it, but mostly due to [my interest in] stoicism,’ he says.
‘I’m a history nerd and Rome is one of my favourite periods so I probably think about it more than the average male.’
He adds that he thinks the Roman Empire has such a strong grip on the minds of men in general, is down to the fact that they idealise the period as a haven for masculinity.
‘It is …read more
Source:: Metro
