The Joys of Discovering the Roman Underground
7 comments
·May 15, 2025deepsun
margalabargala
Despite the similarity of name, the "Roman Empire" and the "Holy Roman Empire" are politically unrelated states. One was named after the other, but it was not a successor state.
Swenrekcah
Context matters. The world has changed quite a lot in 2500 years. We can put higher ethical standards on leaders of modern countries than were made in the distant past.
cat20
girl it was 2000 years ago??? Unlike the Nazis, they didn't commit a genocide?? And they gave citizenship to people they conquered... I'd say for the standards of the time, they did pretty damn well. It's crazy to compare them to modern standards. And anyways, I'd still rather live under the Romans than the Nazis...
rebuilder
The Roman destruction of Carthage seems like a pretty clear genocide.
card_zero
The part about modern standards can't be overlooked, though. Somebody from before the 1600s would lack egalitarian values, does that failure deserve blame? That's like saying they should have invented and promoted egalitarianism early. I mean sure, in principle, but it's a lot to ask, and they should have invented transistors too.
MemesAndBooze
Is this an AI slop comment?
Interesting that no one says "The Joys of Discovering the Nazi Underground". Even though the Roman empire was a cruel war machine, with war and slavery being it's cornerstone. What Nazi called "The First Reich" was originally called the "Holy Roman Empire".
But now it's all forgotten and Roman Empire is almost adored.
UPDATE: I honestly don't know what tortures were worse, nazi ones or crucifixions with flayed back, practiced in Roman empire as punishment.