this post was submitted on 03 Apr 2025
33 points (100.0% liked)
Rough Roman Memes
655 readers
89 users here now
A place to meme about the glorious ROMAN EMPIRE (and Roman Republic, and Roman Kingdom)! Byzantines tolerated! The HRE is not.
RULES:
-
No racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, bigotry, etc. The past may be bigoted, but we are not.
-
Memes must be Rome-related, not just the title. It can be about Rome, or using Roman aesthetics, or both, but the meme itself needs to have Roman themes.
-
Follow Lemmy.world rules.
Not sure where to start on Roman history?
A quick memetic primer on Republican Rome
A quick memetic primer on Imperial Rome
founded 10 months ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Explanation: Roman Emperors, both by the nature of men in power and the needs of the job, generally made a lot of fucking enemies, both contemporary and in the recollections of history.
Antoninus Pius is a rare exception, a man who came to power by uncontroversial means (being chosen as a successor by Emperor Hadrian for his integrity), ruling through a period of uninterrupted peace, prosperity, and legal reform, having few vices and living a simple and unextravagant life, and then handing power over to a well-regarded emperor (Marcus Aurelius, and, less importantly, his adoptive brother Lucius Verus). By the recollections of those who lived after his rule, his mildness and attention towards public good and infrastructure was highly regarded, and in his personal life, Pius was likewise uncontroversial, and his adoptive sons and their tutor remembered him as a kind man who enjoyed the simple pleasures - fishing, comedy, theatre, watching boxing matches.
We love Emperor Pius in this house!
So you only get up to one benevolent and capable leader per empire it seems ...
One might also count Titus, as his Emperorship was universally beloved as well, but he made a lot of enemies before becoming Emperor (including a stint as a conquering general, and then his father's head of secret police 😬), while Antoninus Pius rose to the position without stepping on any major toes.