Why Is Everyone Inquiring About Men's Thoughts on the Roman Empire?

If you haven't come across this peculiar question on your social media feed or in your group chats, you likely will soon: "How often do you think about the Roman Empire?" It's a query that seems to have emerged from various sources, such as a tweet, an Instagram Reel, or perhaps a TikTok. Regardless of its origin, it's become a viral trend for everyone to ponder how frequently the men in their lives contemplate the Roman Empire.

A TikTok by @paige.elysee suggested that the responses to this question would be "shocking." However, based on my interactions with friends and conversations in the WIRED Culture Slack, the responses have been more intriguing than genuinely surprising. When I posed the question to my group chats, most of the replies fell into the realm of, "Is this that Twitter poll? lol" or "I got asked this last night. Truly never." In other words, the responses weren't exactly shocking but were rather amusing. Some colleagues added humor with comments like "My brain: 'The Roman Empire is to men what girl dinner is to women,'" or "My theory is that it's because that Daily Stoic podcast is so popular." WIRED veteran Steven Levy humorously mentioned that he thinks about Ancient Rome "Every time I write about Mark Zuckerberg." However, according to responses from individuals outside my immediate circle, the frequency of thinking about the Roman Empire ranged from "every single day" to once a week or "a few times a month."

To gather more insights, I decided to conduct an informal poll among my WIRED colleagues. While I believe it's somewhat absurd to gender this question—people of all genders can be history enthusiasts, after all—the results from a mixed-gender group indicated that roughly a fifth of respondents claimed they "never" think about the Roman Empire. "Never" was tied with "weekly," followed by "monthly" at approximately 15 percent of respondents.

During my extensive investigation, I came across responses that pointed to other historical periods like the Cold War, Pompeii, or the 1920s as more captivating subjects. This led me to a theory: People, regardless of gender, may not think about the Roman Empire itself frequently, but they do engage with media related to the Roman Empire. Video games set in the Colosseum, classic films like Cleopatra, numerous History Channel documentaries, and even satirical works like Monty Python’s Life of Brian have left lasting impressions on our memories. For instance, Jay-Z incorporated Russell Crowe's famous line "Are you not entertained?" from Gladiator into his song "What More Can I Say" because the film was so iconic.

When I reflect on Ancient Rome, my thoughts often center around the persecution of Christians and the empire's conversion to Christianity under Constantine. Then, I might even think about Keanu Reeves. One of my former editors shared that she had recently watched HBO's Rome while simultaneously viewing Amazon Prime Video's Domina to compare the portrayals of Octavian's wife during the Second Triumvirate. I couldn't resist the temptation to delve deeper into this topic and ended up exploring a fascinating rabbit hole.

In 2023, our media consumption habits have evolved. Hollywood is eager to adapt any historical story into intellectual property, resulting in shows and movies that we watch with our phones and laptops handy for further exploration of the historical details onscreen. Who among us hasn't spent hours researching the KGB after a binge-watch of The Americans or fact-checked The Trial of Chicago 7? Streaming services offer an abundance of content about World War II, and I once dedicated nearly a month of research to Alan Turing's "Bombe" code-breaking machine after watching The Imitation Game. In essence, Turing is probably my equivalent of the Roman Empire (feel free to ask about the Apple logo in the comments).

As the saying goes, history is typically written by the victors. However, in modern times, it often gets translated by screenwriters and then enhanced with studio notes. People have an enduring fascination with the past. The more my text and Slack conversations continued, the more we delved into pondering why the meme about men and the Roman Empire went viral in the first place. It led to discussions about our collective intrigue with war, our fascination with powerful men, and a range of other intriguing topics. Ultimately, we didn't arrive at a definitive answer about why this meme gained traction—or whether men genuinely think about the Roman Empire more than individuals of other genders—but we certainly found the discussion entertaining.