XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, soc.women, alt.politics.usa

The womanosphere was abuzz this week, asking social media “why do men
think so much about the ‘Roman Empire’?” Intriguing as it is, the more pertinent question remains: why do men seldom discuss Rome with women?

Plainly, there’s a reason why men (especially in the US), are so taken
with the ‘Roman Empire.’ They admire the legend of an empire founded
and governed by farmer-warrior-philosophers, who ascended to the top of
the world through a mix of intellectual rigour, military prowess, and
masterful engineering. As well as a stroke of good luck now and then…

Thomas Jefferson was Cicero; George Washington was Sulla; Lincoln was
Marcus Aurelius; Teddy Roosevelt was Scipio Africanus; and John Adams,
Cato the Elder. Considering the unmatched pantheon of leadership, the
parallels drawn between Rome and the USA are just too good to ignore,
as ill-suited as they are. For better or worse, the world views the USA
as the New Rome.

Yet, beyond the overlap between American and Roman virtues, parallels
between their vices are becoming disconcertingly clear. Especially so
when a senile Claudius sleepwalks in the White House, while a cabal of
Neros is running the show from behind the curtains, literally setting
the land on fire, as they sharpen their daggers to go after the former
Caesar with the might of the State.

The looming threat of destruction, by means of debt, debauchery, and
barbaric invasions, feels even more tangible than the destruction by
fire, looting and persecution that beleaguered both empires in their
prime. Even the growing division between the coastal elites and the
flyover states, imperfectly mimic the East-West divide of the Roman
Empire, under the false notion that history repeats itself.

Strength and Honour
Reasons to think about Rome are plenty, however most of them are mired
in contradiction or confusion.

Rome, in its broadest definition, existed for 2,500 years — from the
Roman Kingdom, to the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire. Then the
Western and Byzantine Empires and, finally, the Holy Roman Empire. One
can even argue it exists to this day, in the form of the Roman Catholic
Church. So, even saying that men think about the ‘Roman Empire’ can
mean a great many of things.

The aesthetic appeal of Rome, aptly captured in films like Gladiator
(although historically flimsy), showcased an unapologetically masculine society, summarised in the (made up) mantra of “strength and honour.”
Yet, it’s not just about aesthetics. The Vikings, for example, are
remembered by their aesthetics and little more, outside neopagan
circles. Empires like Persia, Egypt, and the Mongols have a lesser
grasp on Western imagination, either due to the lack of a
historiography or too much of a cultural distance. The British Empire,
on the other hand, had their resounding defeats too meticulously
recorded to inspire much allure.

And Rome is just about its heroes (or anti-heroes) as its villains,
from Attila to Hannibal, from Nero to Caligula; they had magnificent counterparties to the heroics of Julius Caesar or Charlemagne, to
Belisarius and the legendary Greek fire — later referenced in Game of
Thrones.

Even my 6-year-old’s favourite bedtime story is about Julius Caesar
building the twin walls at Alesia, then marching into Rome, and later
chasing Pompey all the way to Egypt…

So, Why Don’t We Discuss It More?
We should get the word out to women that another world is possible
(caveating that that are plenty of women just as keen on Rome and what
it represents).

Rome was not just cosmopolitan; it aspired to be eternal by upholding
universal principles in the face of emerging problems. While Rome
recognised the benefits of community and charity, it never compromised
the rule of law or meritocracy: you reap what you sow, but you also
give back.

They demonstrated that the politics of the sword and the battlefield
can be replaced by the politics of the pen and diplomacy, without
making our leaders soft and spineless.

That it took a great deal of sacrifice, effort and accomplishment to
carve one’s name into history, not just being the first LGBT nominee at
a Nickelodeon Awards.

So, my theory is that men today aren’t just thinking about the Roman
Empire’s rise or fall. They are thinking on how to bring back such
glory, how to reverse the prevailing cultural decline. After all, it
has been done before: Augustus reinvented Rome into the New Troy,
inspired by Aeneas rising from defeat, carrying both his father (past)
and his son (future) from the ashes of his house. And Constantine, who reimagined Rome as the heir to Jerusalem, materialising the dreams of
his mother.

Do All Roads Now Lead to White Supremacy?
But, be prepared for inevitable backlash and headlines like “Thinking
About The Roman Empire Is White Supremacy” next week.

They will cast the Roman Empire as a Christian theocracy and ask what’s stopping today’s ‘extremists’ from rallying to reclaim Constantinople
or liberate the Holy Land.

And before you know it, everything will be lumped under the ominous tag
of ‘Christian Nationalism,’ labelled as ‘inherently racist,’ even
though the concept of racism blossomed only during the Enlightenment. Ironically, it was embraced by those who demonised Rome’s
Christianisation and longed for the purity of European paganism.

The actual problem these critics have is that a ‘Roman Renaissance’
threatens the exceedingly feminised world we live in, and the
establishment is keen to cling to power by definition. When I use
‘feminised’ in this context, consider that Beto O’Rourke and Justin
Trudeau embody far more ‘politically feminine’ attributes than, let’s
say, Nikki Haley or Giorgia Meloni.

It’s clear that when men demonstrate awareness of history, it unsettles
the current order. To go a bit further back in history, in a time when
we’re bombarded by messages akin to Philip II of Macedon’s threats of
what would happen if he invaded Sparta, it’s high time we responded
like the Spartans did: simply “If…”

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)