6 ms·

Roman Empire acquired almost every piece of land in Europe, so that story is not quite accurate about the power and wealth ;) But it's entertaining, of course -

Roman Empire acquired almost every piece of land in Europe, so that story is not quite accurate about the power and wealth ;) But it's entertaining, of course - thanks!

skrebbel 5y ago
You'd be surprised what 2000 years of living at a global center of wealth and power can do to the spirit of an average joe. For inspiration, see this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29639486 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29639486
- NicoJuicy 5y ago
  As mentioned in the thread, it's more like it's an ad for a book. Including cross posting it here. Knowing the thread, i don't really see a correlation ( and it seems te exagerated + coincidence considering the timing in the reddit thread - ~4 hours between)
  - aine 5y ago
    Who cares? The thread is interesting, so if that's an ad campaign - it's a good one.
    - NicoJuicy 5y ago
      If it's fake, what's the value?
dempedempe 5y ago
I think that's the point. God told the Romans that there's no power or wealth left and they said "fuck it" and took it anyways (and God allowed).
- ggambetta 5y ago
  I interpreted it as "Romans" being the (contemporary) inhabitants of Rome, (presumably) considered to be dicks by other Italians. They said "dicks!" referring to the people who got wealth and power, God said "granted", and turned them into dicks.
- jrootabega 5y ago
  I thought it was a penis joke.
hnarn 5y ago
> Roman Empire acquired almost every piece of land in Europe Depends on what you mean by "almost" and "Europe" I guess. They never conquered (all of) present day Germany, Poland, Scotland or Ireland. None of the entirety of Scandinavia, or the Baltic states, etc. At the peak of the Roman Empire, the Iron Age had been going for about 400 years in Northern Europe, so it was clearly inhabited and not completely backwards: and if anyone feels like making the argument that there was nothing "worth" conquering in these parts anyway, consider that 1) you're just parroting what the Romans themselves would have said and 2) if that is true, why did the Romans ever attempt to conquer the Germanic Tribes? It's not like present-day Germany was a bastion of so-called "civilization" compared to present day Scandinavia. The simple answer is that the Romans couldn't. So without taking anything away from how absolutely gigantic the Roman Empire was, I can't agree with the statement that they "acquired almost every piece of land in Europe" -- not that it really makes that much of a difference since many parts of the Roman Empire were firmly outside of Europe.
- EugeneOZ 5y ago
  Don't take it so close to your heart - I didn't have the intent to insult Germany or Scandinavia ;) The power of the Roman Empire was extraordinary - that was my only point. https://youtu.be/GylVIyK6voU https://youtu.be/GylVIyK6voU
  - hnarn 5y ago
    I’m by no means “insulted”, I was just making a comment on the accuracy of the statement.

Roman Empire acquired almost every piece of land in Europe, so that story is not quite accurate about the power and wealth ;) But it's entertaining, of course - thanks!

skrebbel 5y ago

You'd be surprised what 2000 years of living at a global center of wealth and power can do to the spirit of an average joe. For inspiration, see this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29639486 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29639486

NicoJuicy 5y ago
As mentioned in the thread, it's more like it's an ad for a book. Including cross posting it here. Knowing the thread, i don't really see a correlation ( and it seems te exagerated + coincidence considering the timing in the reddit thread - ~4 hours between)
- aine 5y ago
  Who cares? The thread is interesting, so if that's an ad campaign - it's a good one.
  - NicoJuicy 5y ago
    If it's fake, what's the value?

dempedempe 5y ago

I think that's the point. God told the Romans that there's no power or wealth left and they said "fuck it" and took it anyways (and God allowed).

ggambetta 5y ago
I interpreted it as "Romans" being the (contemporary) inhabitants of Rome, (presumably) considered to be dicks by other Italians. They said "dicks!" referring to the people who got wealth and power, God said "granted", and turned them into dicks.
jrootabega 5y ago
I thought it was a penis joke.

hnarn 5y ago

> Roman Empire acquired almost every piece of land in Europe Depends on what you mean by "almost" and "Europe" I guess. They never conquered (all of) present day Germany, Poland, Scotland or Ireland. None of the entirety of Scandinavia, or the Baltic states, etc. At the peak of the Roman Empire, the Iron Age had been going for about 400 years in Northern Europe, so it was clearly inhabited and not completely backwards: and if anyone feels like making the argument that there was nothing "worth" conquering in these parts anyway, consider that 1) you're just parroting what the Romans themselves would have said and 2) if that is true, why did the Romans ever attempt to conquer the Germanic Tribes? It's not like present-day Germany was a bastion of so-called "civilization" compared to present day Scandinavia. The simple answer is that the Romans couldn't. So without taking anything away from how absolutely gigantic the Roman Empire was, I can't agree with the statement that they "acquired almost every piece of land in Europe" -- not that it really makes that much of a difference since many parts of the Roman Empire were firmly outside of Europe.

EugeneOZ 5y ago
Don't take it so close to your heart - I didn't have the intent to insult Germany or Scandinavia ;) The power of the Roman Empire was extraordinary - that was my only point. https://youtu.be/GylVIyK6voU https://youtu.be/GylVIyK6voU
- hnarn 5y ago
  I’m by no means “insulted”, I was just making a comment on the accuracy of the statement.