Marco Maccarini/Getty Images
The Tiber statues in Capitoline Square in Rome. History does not say whether the man depicted thought about the Roman Empire as often as people do today, but there is little doubt.
LATINISTS – All roads lead to Rome. At least all the TikTok videos from the last few days. If you’ve been on social media recently, you’ve probably seen videos in which men answer a somewhat absurd question: How often do they think about Ancient Rome? Strangely, the answers vary from several times a month to several times a day.
An intensity that led the New York Times to ask, “Are men obsessed with the Roman Empire?” Think about it a lot. I wonder what my daughters Maxima, August and Aurelia think about it. » The Facebook founder therefore chose Latin names for all his children.
So where does this question about ancient Rome come from? And above all: Why do some men think about this time so often? We take stock.
From Instagram to TikTok
It all started with an Instagram video posted on August 19, in which a user with the nickname Gaius Flavius wrote: “Ladies, you have no idea how often men think about the Roman Empire. Ask your husband/boyfriend/father/brother – you will be surprised by the answers! »
On X (formerly Twitter), an American says she asked her husband the question after I saw the video. His answer? He thinks about it every day. His tweet, posted on September 6, was liked more than 26,000 times and prompted more than 1,700 replies. However, his biggest impact was on TikTok.
For several days, many users of the Chinese social network have been posting their interactions with their husband/partner/father/boyfriend and the theory put forward by “Gaius Flavius” seems to be confirmed. Almost all of the men filmed say they think about the Roman Empire with surprising frequency: every week for some, every day for others, even several times a day for the most intense ones, as you can see in the video below.
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“How can you not think of the Roman Empire? ! »
While the trend has mostly hit the Anglo-Saxon world, some French women have also asked the men in their lives or those around them the same question. In one of these videos we can hear one of them saying that he thinks about the Roman Empire several times a week and is surprised by his girlfriend’s dismayed reaction: “How can you not think about the Roman Empire?”! This is the greatest empire that has ever existed! »
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An informal survey of men in the HuffPost editorial team offers a more mixed picture: of the 11 men surveyed, two say they think about it almost every day (one of them is called Romain, which may explain why), and two others think about it .” at least once a month”. For most people, however, considerations about the Roman Empire are limited to vacations in Italy and the last Asterix.
The phenomenon must therefore be put into perspective. And Susanna Elm, a professor of Roman antiquity at the University of Berkeley, California, who HuffPost interviewed on the topic, recalls: “Anything can become a TikTok trend.”
Pop culture and bridges and roads
However, given the scale of the trend, the Roman Empire still seems to fascinate many men. How can the special appeal of this historical period be explained?
Of course, Roman antiquity is prevalent in popular culture. Whether in series or films that take place in this time (Gladiator, Rome) or in others that indirectly remind us of it – “The Sopranos” or “The Godfather”, whose mafiosi references ancient Rome or even Star Wars, part of the universe and the political, multiply whose frames are inspired by this time.
But other elements are added to explain the special appeal of the Roman Empire to the psyche of certain men. Susanna Elm, for example, mentions Roman engineering that can fascinate more than one person. “It is an empire known for its exploits if you are fascinated by roads, transport, bridges, infrastructure, etc.,” explains the professor. And I’m not saying that women aren’t interested in it, but in general it’s more often men who are interested in this sort of thing. »
In TikTok videos, among the justifications given by lovers of antiquity, we often find the Romans’ “plumbing systems,” their aqueducts or their roads (“When I drive on a nice road, I say to myself, ‘Wow, they have the roads.’ “built!”, enthuses this Englishman, for example).
Stoicism, very trendy in management seminars
The impressive conquests of the Roman Empire are also often cited by the men in the videos. “It’s a political fascination,” explains Susanna Elm. It was a huge empire that lasted a long time. How did they achieve this? »
A question that can also explain the popularity of this period among American men, who are much more represented in these videos. “Everyone is afraid of the fall of the empire,” says the professor. And in the United States this fear is much more alive than, for example, in France, a country whose heyday is long past. »
Another element that is particularly popular these days might explain this appeal: stoicism. Susanna Elm sees the impact of a current trend in the world of management seminars, where the Roman philosophical movement has become particularly popular. In 2019, the American magazine Entrepreneur affirmed that “the best business leaders turn to stoicism,” while in 2023 Forbes presents the “secrets for managing emotions” according to ancient philosophy.
“It is a philosophy linked to governance. Govern yourself in order to be able to govern others,” explains the professor.
“Men dream of empire”
Behind many of these elements there is also a certain vision of men and masculinity. The figure of the gladiator is often mentioned, the man who fights to the death for his honor. “It’s interesting because the gladiators were slaves, but those who talk about it tend to think of the role of Russell Crowe, a former general,” points out Susanna Elm. Everyone wants to associate with the Roman nobleman who is a loner and cares about his family. »
A vision of masculinity that can sometimes flirt with extremes. Under the Instagram video that started the trend, a user (with Donald Trump in the profile photo) complains: “Being a man means wanting to create something.” It builds up. Or destroy and conquer. Rome was all that. Men dream of empire. »
A caricatured and very macho vision that still appeals to some. “The majority of men who love the Roman Empire do not fall into this category, but some like to dream of bygone eras,” says Susanna Elm. It’s like Barbie when they live in a fantasy of patriarchy. That’s the kind of thing we like to associate with Rome, like with Westerns, this idea that there was a time when there were strong men and feminine women. »
However, the researcher would like to point out that in the history of ancient Rome, many forms of masculinity coexisted, far from these sometimes reductive visions. Enough to stimulate new fantasies.
See also on HuffPost:
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