Thinking About the Roman Empire

On this week's episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss why they think about the Roman Empire and why you probably do too even if you don't know it.

Men thinking about the Roman Empire became quite a social media meme, but as Maitra and Stepman explain, the trend suggests that there's a deep longing in modern societies to consider our ancient origins.

"Thinking about the Roman Empire" could represent a desire in Western man for greatness and achievement or maybe it's because of a creeping notion that the West is in decline and may collapse as the Roman Empire did. Or perhaps, like great Roman historian Livy, we find solace in the chaos and confusion of our own time by studying the past.

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