On TikTok, women are now asking the men in their lives how often they think about the historical Roman Empire (yes, the empire that was at its most powerful around 400 AD). And the answer they get is quite surprising. Because according to the videos, this is something men around the world often think about. Some say that it takes them both every week and up to several times a day! So far, videos on TikTok with the subject tag #Romanempire have passed a whopping 1.2 billion views. But is it really true that men go around thinking about the empire that stretched from England to Egypt? And if so, why on earth is it like that? Is it nostalgia? To find answers to what it is like in Norway, we went to the central Roman Empire. Specifically, Lillestrøm. Asking people on the street does not necessarily give a comprehensive picture of what Norwegians generally think. So we have received help from the polling agency Norstat. They have checked with around 1,000 Norwegian women and men. The answer is that 20 percent of men say they think about the Roman Empire every month or more often! Among women, only 6 percent say they think about the historic kingdom during a month. 61 percent of women never think about the Roman Empire. Could be about attention – I don’t think this happens because of successful history teaching, but rather that one must look at it from a social scientific method. Because there are some obvious things here. Kristoffer Chelsom Vogt says so. He is head and professor at the Department of Sociology at the University of Bergen. He believes the answers that men give in the videos on TikTok are produced by how the question is asked. – People have a tendency to say yes when asked about things. If the question is asked in a slightly different way, you may get a no. – Another thing is that they get more attention in social media the more extreme the answer is. There is probably something there too. So I think the trend is that men say they think a lot about the Roman Empire. The professor himself says that the Roman Empire is something he rarely thinks about. – No, it’s not particularly often, although I occasionally read thick books on the subject. But it is an interesting phenomenon. The Colosseum is an amphitheater in Rome, Italy and was built during the time when the Roman Empire existed. Gladiators are said to have fought their battles here. Photo: Marianne Løvland / NTB Scanpix Vogt explains the difference between women and men by saying that men may have a more nostalgic relationship with the Roman Empire than women do. – One thing that can play a role is that it was a very male-dominated society. Both politically and militarily. Maybe men find this fascinating to think about. At the same time, the comment section on TikTok shows that some women are also thinking about the Roman Empire. In the comment section on TikTok, some women also admit that they often think about the Roman Empire. Photo: Printscreen TikTok Things you should know about the Roman Empire In short, the Roman Empire was an empire based in the city of Rome. It was one of the most powerful empires in history, with a heyday from approximately 240 BC to 400 AD. At its greatest, the Roman Empire encompassed all of Europe west of the Rhine and south of the Danube, including today’s England and Romania. All of Africa north of the Sahara and the Levant, including today’s Turkey, were also ruled from Rome. About 80 million people lived in the Roman Empire. The most famous emperor in the Roman Empire was Julius Caesar. He is known, among other things, for a number of quotes such as “the die is cast” and “I came, I saw, I won”. The Romans built roads in the area they conquered to ensure that communication within the empire would be efficient. They also built aqueducts to rent water, for example, to cities that needed it.
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Yes, men actually often think of the Roman Empire! – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
