Are men obsessed with the Roman Empire? For several weeks, on TikTok, the question has been popping up in American homes and the trend now has nearly 1.8 billion views. In front of the television or seated in the kitchen, women ask their spouse the same question : “Honey, how often do you think about the Roman Empire? “. And their answers are as funny as they are surprising. “How many times a day do I think about Marcus Aurelius and Alexander the Great? I don’t know, two or three times a day,” replies one. “Once every seven hours,” adds another. ” A lot. Once a day at least,” muses a third. Even more ironic, everyone seems surprised that this thought is not shared within the couple. “How can you not think of the Roman Empire?” », asks one of the men.
But Rome wasn’t created in a day and neither was this theory. In August, a Swede called “Gaius Flavius » – himself fascinated by the Roman Empire – states the following idea in a video: “Ladies, you don’t realize how often men think about the Roman Empire.” Very quickly, the allegation was verified. Mid-September on a first video published by the account “Jessandscottie”. “More than most adults, but not often. Three to four times a week,” replied the man interviewed. Enough to arouse the curiosity of other women who in turn ask the same question to their partner. Everyone is hilarious and most of the time surprised.
However, on the men’s side, this fascination is almost logical. The Roman Empire would be impressive for its constructions – especially the Colosseum – but also for all the consequences on the current world. According to some men interviewed in the videos, this is mainly linked to desires for conquest and symbolizes virility and masculinity.
To each his own Roman Empire
But in the following days, a new question arose around this trend: why is the obsession with the Roman Empire predominantly among white, heterosexual men? For most African-American men asked by their wives, the answer is immediate. ” Never “. “Only at Easter.” “My Roman Empire would be more Jay-Z’s choice of label.” Within the gay community, the question also arises. The Roman Empire would be quite different. “Drag Race”, “Lady Di”, cite several videos. “My Roman Empire is realizing that I spent 19 years being someone else because I grew up thinking that loving men was a mistake,” says another.
This testimony is not trivial. Faced with questions related to their daily difficulties, the LGBT or African-American communities would have more things to think about and in fact less mental space to devote to the Roman Empire. Behind the Marcus Aurelius mania lies in fact a completely different problem, that of sharing tasks within the household. The mental load allows, or not, to think about the Flavian dynasty.
However, we must put things into perspective: everyone has their own Roman Empire. Everyone has a topic they would think about several times a week, if not every day. At the writing of 20 minutes, for a journalist, it would be Greek mythology. For another, the solar system. “For me, it would be the Vikings,” admits one last.