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What doo you think of this scene from Ancient Rome?

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Dude it's Monday. If you want ancient rome references we've got tons of them:

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But that's empty. Here's a shot of the stadium the AFC championship was played in:


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And the NFC:

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If you want some Roman spectacle at the inaguration, they better start sacrificing people to lions or re-enacting the battle of Carthage. Better yet Super Bowl XXVI, i.e., the last time the Washington Redskins were any good.
 
DrSlek said:
Which also modelled itself after Rome, did it not? Holy Roman Empire was the first Reich, German Empire was the second Reich, Nazi Germany was the third. All used a variation of the Roman imperial eagle as one of their major symbols.

The Roman Republic/Empire left its mark everywhere. Kaiser, the German word for Emperor, is taken almost directly from the name Caesar. Same for the Russian Tzar/Czar and the Hindi Kaisar.
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Everyone modeled themselves on the greeks because they had the first dominante global empire.

I love the holy roman empire and the quote abour it though. It wasnt holy, roman or an empire
 
The people saying Carthage wasn't influenced by Rome are sort of correct... But Rome's writing system was an adapted form of Greek script, which they themselves borrowed from the Phoenicians.

Carthage was a Phoenician city (think about the similarities to the term "Punic") and very much the successor to Tyre and Sidon.

Western culture is just one huge mutant hybrid thing.
 
I prefer Athens to Rome but one thing I'll give Romans is that they were hella progressive when it came to citizenship issues. All greeks were complete xenophobic racist bastards in comparison.

The Greeks were never a dominant global empire el. They spent most of their history being awed by the Egyptians and their greatest moment was fighting off Persian invasions not doing any conquering of their own. Alexander did a whole lot of conquering sure but 1)he wasn't Greek and 2) his empire didn't last beyond his death and the successor states he left behind got their asses kicked by the Romans.
 
I did have a fleeting thought that the entire spectacle looked like something that could have taken place in the Eastern Bloc, especially while the Obamas sat behind that bulletproof glass as the marching bands from different states walked by. Although the aesthetic similarities don't mean much, they certainly evoke an emotional response of slight disgust.
 
Teutonic Knights looked pretty badass.

Don't know how they fought with all that shit on though.

At least they could die looking badass.
 
Someone recently posted this on Facebook. I found it an interesting read.

Top 10 similarities between the fall of Rome and the fall of America

The following are examples of how the two empires are identical in their self-destruction.

1. Over-Extended Military - Rome was a republic that turned into an empire. Both empires have extended their military across the known world far beyond their economic sensibilities. ItÂ’s power spread from the middle east to Africa and Europe. The United States was once a Republic, but today, our military bases operate as an empire in dozens of countries around the world. Our president and Congress provoke wars on sovereign nations at will: Korea, Vietnam, Bosnia, Kuwait, Iraq and potentially Iran. The United States morphs into world conquests without end. America displays the same calamities that destroyed Rome.

2. Government Corruption – The Roman Empire fell because it was bankrupted by its leaders. Roman Senators were selfish and self-absorbed, determined to hoard the huge wealth of the empire and enhance their wealth even further. The common people lost all power.

3. Immigration - Rome found itself increasingly using “illegal immigrants” from outside their nation to do the agricultural work that Romans would not do. ”Roman government allowed uncontrolled hostile immigration to dissolve the fabric of their civilization. Illegal and legal Immigrants grew more powerful while exercising their own character of their cultures. They did not adopt Roman ways. Second, vast blocks of once Roman lands became foreign held and even the Roman population, once outnumbered, was no match for hostile immigrants.” Reference: “The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and Barbarians,” by Peter Heather. “Factors that destroyed Rome now manifest in accelerating numbers in America. Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, New York City, San Francisco, Raleigh and all large cities suffer millions of illegal immigrants. Uncounted millions of them cannot and do not speak English. Millions work under the table without paying taxes. Millions use our hospitals without paying. They immigrate but do not assimilate. They colonize in ethnic enclaves separated from Americans. They fracture our country.” Reference (LINK)

4. Birth Control - Decrease of Roman birth rates. Abortion, contraception, infanticide, prostitution, and perversion dramatically lowered birthrates.

5. Elimination of the Middle Class - The middle class of ancient Rome were Equestrians. they were the merchants and traders and were allowed certain political positions. In the earliest days of the Republic RomeÂ’s taxes were quite modest, consisting mainly of a wealth tax on all forms of property, including land, houses, slaves, animals, money and personal effects. Beginning with the third century B.C. Roman economic policy started to contrast more and more sharply with that in the Hellenistic world, especially Egypt. In Greece and Egypt economic policy had gradually become highly regimented, depriving individuals of the freedom to pursue personal profit in production or trade, crushing them under a heavy burden of oppressive taxation, and forcing workers into vast collectives where they were little better than bees in a great hive. (LINK)

6. Obsession with Sports and Entertainment -The Roman poet Juvenal (circa 100 A.D.) wrote regarding the way latter-day Roman emperors retained power and control over the masses that were seemingly more than happy to obsess themselves with trivialities and self-indulgences while their once-great-and-powerful empire collapsed before their very eyes. He wrote:

“Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions–everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses.” (Wikipedia) (LINK)

Many American men have allowed sports to control and dominate their lives. With many, sports are not just a hobby; they are a religion. When men stripped their shirts off and painted their faces, they were heading to the battlefield to kill their enemies. Now they are headed off to the sports coliseum to watch a football game. A manÂ’s ego and machismo was once used to protect his family and freedom; now itÂ’s used to follow batting averages and box scores.

Scholars are generally consistent in noting that one of the factors in the “Fall” of Rome was the Roman obsession with entertainment and consequent loss of civic duty. (“bread and circuses”) In many modern books written about Ancient Rome and her people, the ancient Romans are often portrayed as people who enjoyed violence and thought it amusing to see people being injured and killed to the point of obsession. It is now common knowledge that, in Ancient Rome, people often attended (and enjoyed) gladiatorial fights to the death, wild beast hunts, naval battles and chariot racing. Some public thinkers today have suggested that “entertainment” today, as it was in ancient times of Rome, reflects the decline of culture, into a plethora of lust, greed, violence, selfish individualism and bad behavior. Some Scholars suggest that history is repeating itself and we are now in a reoccurring cycle of moral decay and social breakdown. From the excessive amount of glorified violence in Hollywood movies, video games, music and on the internet, one can easily see the downward spiral of decency.

7. Redistribution of Wealth -Roman politicians devised a plan in 140 B.C. to win the votes of the poor: giving out cheap food and entertainment, “bread and circuses”, would be the most effective way to rise to power. The Roman practice of providing free wheat to Roman citizens as well as costly circus games and other forms of entertainment as a means of gaining political power through populism, is a perfect parallel to how America in this post modern age is succumbing to the same distractions while ignoring the crumbling infrastructure of abandoned principles.

Like the Romans, the spending of public money for free “bread and circuses” for the populace, the concept of “redistribution of wealth,” taxing those who have and giving to those who have not, has become part of the American way of life with the New Deal and the Great Society. The result has been an excessive burden of taxation on the middle, working class of Americans

8. Exporting “Culture” - Rome’s greatest conquest was the seduction of its’ peoples. They would provide them with baths, and central heating as the people never realized that they were enslaved by such wonderful things. In the United States we have McDonald’s, Starbucks, and many other known American companies popping up in every major city on earth. Romans also put down “roots” all over their occupied territories and left their cultural and architectural footprint on the world. We also have as the Romans did, an obsession with comfort and pleasure that distracted the population from important issues and made the citizens apathetic, only concerned about disruptions in their own personal pleasures to the peril of their communities.

9. Morality – Dr. Carle Zimmerman in 1947 wrote a book called Family and Civilization. He studies the decline of several civilizations and empires. He discovered eight patterns of domestic behavior that signaled the decline of a civilization: (LINK)

A. The breakdown of marriage and rise of divorce.

B. The loss of the traditional meaning of the marriage ceremony.

C.. The rise of Feminism.

D. Increased public disrespect for parents and authority in general.

E. Acceleration of juvenile delinquency, promiscuity and rebellion.

F. Refusal of people with traditional marriages to accept their family responsibilities.

G. A growing desire for and acceptance of adultery.

H. Increasing interest in and spread of sexual perversions and sex-related crimes.

See any parallels in modern America?

10. Inflation – As early as the rule of Nero (54-68 A.D.) there is evidence that the demand for revenue led to debasement of the Roman coinage. Revenue was needed to pay the increasing costs of defense and a growing bureaucracy. However, rather than raise taxes, Nero and subsequent emperors preferred to debase the currency by reducing the precious metal content of coins. This was, of course, a form of taxation; in this case, a tax on cash balances (Bailey 1956). Throughout most of the Empire, the basic units of Roman coinage were the gold aureus, the silver denarius, and the copper or bronze sesterces. Most emperors continued the policies of debasement and increasingly heavy taxes, levied mainly on the wealthy. The war against wealth was not simply due to purely fiscal requirements, but was also part of a conscious policy of exterminating the Senatorial class, which had ruled Rome since ancient times.

As the private wealth of the Empire was gradually confiscated or taxed away, driven away or hidden, economic growth slowed to a virtual standstill. Moreover, once the wealthy were no longer able to pay the stateÂ’s bills, the burden inexorably fell onto the lower classes, so that average people suffered as well from the deteriorating economic conditions. (LINK)

At this point, in the third century A.D., the money economy completely broke down. Yet the military demands of the state remained high. Rome’s borders were under continual pressure from Germanic tribes in the North and from the Persians in the East. In the United States currently, our money has been weakened through inflation by excessive government spending catering to entitlement social programs, military conquests and “National Security” We are at a dangerous brink of an inevitable economic collapse.
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genjiZERO said:
I suppose. They obviously Hellenised themselves entirely, but they went well beyond Greece in terms of administration and engineering. We have republican government because of Rome not Greece, and the Greeks never built aqueducts quite like the Romans. We also cherry pick things about Greece. Athens was a great culture. But Sparta? Not so much. The way I've always seen it was that Greece had better thinkers but Rome had better doers. I'm not going to get into a Rome v. Greece debate. I think both were equally important for the creation Western civilisation.

As far as the religion I'm not so sure that's entirely true. Much of the pantheon is common to indigenous Indo-European cultures. Obviously they Hellenised them, but Jupiter existed independently of Zeus (in as much as they are independent of their Indo-European common ancestor).
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From the female perspective, Sparta was a much better place to be than Athens (obviously not including the slave classes in both locations here).

The greater freedom and status of Spartan women began at birth. Sparta's laws required female infants and children to be given the same care and food as their brothers – in contrast to other Greek cities, where girls were more likely to be exposed (rejected and killed) at birth, were fed on a less nutritious diet than their brothers, and were prevented from getting exercise or even fresh air.

Furthermore, like their brothers, Spartan girls attended the public school, although for a shorter period of time than the boys. At school they were allowed and encouraged to engage in sports. But, as Plato points out in his Protagoras (342d), this education was not purely physical. On the contrary, in Sparta "not only men but also women pride themselves on their intellectual culture." This was more than mere literacy: it was systematic education in rhetoric and philosophical thought.

When girls reached sexual maturity, they were not rushed – as were their sisters throughout the rest of the ancient world – into marriage, thereby suffering psychological and physical injury from premature sex and frequently dying early in childbed. On the contrary, the Spartan laws explicitly advocated marrying girls only after they had reached an age to "enjoy sex." The reasoning was simple: for young girls not yet psychologically ready for sexual intimacy, sex was an "act of violence." It is highly significant that Spartans condemned violence inside marriage, and understood that sex with a child is abusive. Nor were Spartan girls married to much older men, as was usual in other Greek cities. It is estimated that most Spartan wives were only four to five years younger than their husbands. The fact that much of Sparta's concern was for the production of healthy children does not detract from the fact that the laws protected girls from early marriage. All Greek marriages were for procreation, but in other cities men were willing to accept the inevitable higher death rates and other physical consequences of forcing sex on young girls for the sake of indulging their own preference for sex with children. (For more details, see the essay on Sexuality.)

Because Sparta's male citizens were required to devote their lives to the military and other forms of public service, Sparta's matrons ran the estates of their husbands. This meant that Spartan wives controlled the family wealth – and, in effect, the entire Spartan agricultural economy. (Trade and manufacturing were in the hands of the perioikoi – see the essay on Economy.) A Spartan citizen was dependent on his wife's efficiency to pay his dues to his dining club and his son's agoge fees. This economic power is in particularly sharp contrast to cities such as Athens, where it was illegal for a woman to control more money than she needed to buy a bushel of grain. (An excellent article on how Spartan women's economic power gave them status is provided by Maria Dettenhofer in "Die Frauen von Sparta", in Reine Maennersache? (Deutsche Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich, 1996).)

What was more: Spartan women could inherit and so transfer wealth. Athenian women, by contrast, were never heiresses: all property passed to the next male kinsman, who might at most be required to marry the heiress in order to claim the inheritance – an arrangement that often led men to discard their previous wife, although she was blameless, just to get their hands on the inheritance of a kinsman. Economic power has always had the concomitant effect of increasing status. This is clearly evidenced by contemporary descriptions of Spartan women. They were "notorious" for having opinions ("even on political matters"!) and – what was clearly worse from the perspective of other Greek men – "their husbands listened to them"! Aristotle claimed that Spartan men were "ruled by their wives" – and cited the freedom of Spartan women as one of two reasons why the Spartan constitution was reprehensible. (For a comparison of women's legal status in Sparta to that in other city-states, see Raphael Sealey, Women and Law in Classical Greece (University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1990), or Sue Blundell, Women in Ancient Greece (British Museum Press, London, 1995).)

In a frequently quoted incident, the wife of King Leonidas was asked why Spartan women were the only women in Greece who "ruled" their husbands. Gorgo replied, "Because we are the only women who give birth to men." In other words, only men with the self-confidence to accept women as equals were men at all.
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I think the US need to take that ceremonial crap down a notch.
The president is a public servant, he works for us, he's not a king. Same goes to members of congress, generals, governors etc.
 
I love how remembering the huge historical influence of Rome over pretty much every western country brings out all the nationalist butthurt in the people.
 
If Spartacus and Starz teached me something, is that it needs more ravenous wenches flashing their boobs in the background.
 
The prevalence of the Eagle symbology throughout that day, both at the inauguration and at the luncheon, actually reminded me of Rome

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