Over the past several weeks, #romanempire has reached over 1.2 billion views on TikTok. The term “Roman Empire” has garnered a 600% increase in searches this past month, according to statistics from Google Trends.
And it all started with a simple question asked by female creators to their male counterparts: “How often do you think about the Roman Empire?”. Women were both fascinated and humored by the responses they received.
According to the viral trend, men think about the post-Republican Roman state fairly often. This male fascination with the legacy of Rome is as amusing as it is questionable.
The Roman Empire is widely recognized today for its influence on Western culture through its innovative practices in the realms of government, engineering and religion. Although it was nearly 2,000 years ago, the methods they implemented can still be seen in the politics, law and architecture of today’s societies.
Women have taken to questioning their fathers, brothers, sons and boyfriends. They have been met with various answers, some more passionate than others.
“It’s just so cool, like, we as a society have grown so much simply because of the Roman Empire,” said Jacob Lewis, sophomore history and geography major. “Football would not be what it is without the Roman Empire. Flushing the toilet wouldn’t be the same.”
Lewis claims he thinks about the empire at least once a day.
While the Romans greatly influenced history, and the Colosseum is still standing, the empire is not. The Roman Empire came crumbling down in 476 A.D. after losing political control in Western Europe due to its excessive size. Even after its demise, many of the innovations brought about by the Roman Empire are still seen in contemporary society. From central heating to roads, public press, social care and the Julian Calendar, the impact remains in society today.
“I don’t wake up and think about the actual Roman Empire itself,” said Ivan Chu, sophomore biology and chemistry major. “I mean, it was there, and they slayed, literally, but not really.”
Oftentimes, when males think about the Roman Empire, images of popular Hollywood movies, like “300” and “Gladiator,” come to mind. In these films, men are depicted as bulky, defined, hyper-masculine warriors. According to psychologist Dr. Scott Lyons, this idealized version of male dominance and physique has created a very male-centric representation of that culture.
“The real question is: Why don’t women think about the Roman Empire more often?” Lewis said.
This online buzz has led women to share what “their version of the Roman Empire”is. This is a newly created term used to refer to a topic that frequently crosses someone’s mind.
Some women say it is that one ex-best friend, you know, the one. Many cited other historical events and figures, such as the Salem Witch Trials, the Royal Family and even Amelia Earhart. Others claimed they think about the “Pitch Perfect” finale performance scene and, on a darker note, being kidnapped and apocalypses daily.
“No one’s really thinking about the Roman Empire that much,” said JD Kassner, junior exercise science major. “There’s just no way.”
Perhaps today’s men are secretly still yearning to battle in skirts, participate in gladiator muneras and domesticate exotic animals. On the other hand, it could just be a comedic ruse pertaining to traditional ideas of masculinity, whose recent rise in popularity has been facilitated by social media.
