I am fascinated by the Romans. You can get absolutely lost in ancient history. I dunno what it is about the Romans. The Greeks, the Egyptians and other empires are equally compelling... but the Romans just seem to do things bigger and better for me.
BP’s is a better place to discuss such things though. Around here, intellectual arguments don’t go far.
Et tu, Quartermain...?
Glen, that is pretty funny. If you like podcasts, look up The Fall of Rome (A Borepatch Recommendation). Pretty good.
ReplyDeleteI am awash in podcasts, TB! I changed things up a couple weeks back and watched a two hour one on early Mesopotamian civilizations that disappeared long before the Romans showed up. They were so old that when they were young and new, their cities were located along lush rivers and in green areas that have long since turned to deserts. It's all fascinating stuff...
DeleteWhat have the Romans done for us?
ReplyDeleteStefan, depends on what your cultural background is. If Western European based, the Romans gave us a language of science, a communication network that lasted into the Middle Ages, a commercial empire binding the Mediterranean and Western Europe together in a way that was not replicated until the late Middle Ages, a legal system, a political system, and work in concrete that we cannot replicate today in some cases. If your cultural background is not Western European, than perhaps less of course - except to the extent that the Latin language has penetrated the English Language.
DeleteAll right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
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