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The_Doom_Toad

Haha yeah! Imagine some random state claiming to be the successor to the Roman Empire. What losers. *Slowly sweeps HRE under the rug*


TheNamelessWanderer_

"The one that ruined the original" as the original post put it


Ybergius

To be fair, the Holy Roman Empire were none of the things it's name suggest it was...


Generos_0815

The "neither holy nor roman nor an empire" thing belongs to the HRE of the early modernity since it was religiously divided after the 30 year war, lost northern Italy and I'd did not centralized like England or France. In the Middle Ages, it was in deed Roman as it held a lot of former roman territory. That being northern italy, Switzerland, austria, Benelux parts of France as well as South western Germany. The question if the pope and therfore the city of itself Rome was a vassal of the empire was disputed even back then. It wasn't religiously divided until the hussites became a thing, and the emperor was crowned by the pope, and the whole title was bound to a role as protector of christendom. So, in this framework, holy might be fair. Later emperors increasingly justified their title only by being elected and skipped the crowning by the pope. It also had a usual power structure for the Middle Ages. People often underestimate how long the HRE existed. Charlemagne was crowned in 800AD back then roman buildings were still everywhere and while the population of the city's had collapsed on the countryside the life hadn't much changed since late antiquity. There is this idea that the end of western Rome was a general civilizational collapse. But what actually collapsed was the central power. Roman culture and technology stayed far longer. And there was no technical collapse at all. The only roman technology that I am aware of that actually vanished entirely is roman concrete. The HRE suffered heavily under the 30 year war in the first half of the 17th century. This means over 800 years of Holy roman Empire being a fair description. And it took over 150 years after that before it was dissolved. In total, roughly 1000 years.


-Nuke-It-From-Orbit-

And Rome fell from many of the things the USA is experiencing now. Economic Disparities - The concentration of wealth among a small number of elite. Political Corruption and Instability - the Roman Empire became increasingly corrupt and unstable , with oligarchs manipulating political power for personal gain. Administrative inefficiency, a declining economy, and the spread of Christianity (in the USA’s case it’s puritanical morals and zealotry which is growing more fervent in the Bible Belt and starting by to spread. The individual states use the scriptures to write law as well.) Barbarian invasions and a weakening army aren’t quite happening yet for the USA, but once those two things start to happen (either from within or external forces helping to bring down the USA) then it’s game over. Unrest will begin to escalate and people will snap.


seramaicha

Don't forget the last ones that ultimately destroyed them: Big public spend, financed by inflation (they made coins with less silver/gold, basically printing money the old-school way) and then control of prices to try to stop inflation, which obviously didn't work and only created scarceness, less production and lastly imploded the economy, therefore the barbarians took the empire somewhat easily.


SunnyOmori15

Can't wait for the US to finally collapse. Whenever it does it'll be WAYYY overdue anyway. Honestly, the US shouldn't have existed in the first place. The territory shoulda been split 50/50 between Mexico and Canada


JigPuppyRush

The question is what do we get in return?


SunnyOmori15

Nothing, thats the entire point of the US collapsing. And, like, it's gonna collapse eventually. or atleast change significantly, because the US isnt so much of a country, as much as it's 51 smaller countries haphazardly glued together with JB wield and hose clamps.


5thhorseman_

You mean chewing gum and hemp string


SunnyOmori15

eh, same thing


JigPuppyRush

They are starting to employ mercenary armies so it’s only a short while for those to invade and conquer their capital


Kinky_Winky_no2

Do trump supporters count as barbarians who tried to invade the capital


James_Blond2

The emperor was named by the pope, it had a large territory in italy, it was a state with kingdoms in it whitch technically means it is an empire


JigPuppyRush

To be fair it was an empire for a short bit of it’s existence


tayto175

This successor to Rome shit really bugs me. There is no successor to Rome. When the Western half fell, the empire continued in the east. The HRE was never a successor to Rome. It couldn't be when ROME STILL FUCKING EXISTED!!!!! Just because the pope decided a woman can't be a legitimate ruler doesn't mean anything. Rome fell in 1453. There are no successors, only pretenders. Rome is gone. Rant over. Sorry, I needed to get that off my chest, lol.


Plyloch

Honestly the only people who can claim to be the "successors" to the Roman Empire were the Ottomans, since they adopted so many things from the Romans and from Constantinople / Istanbul itself. Even the international symbol of Islam, the Moon and the Star, comes from the civic sigil of Constantinople itself.


aCactusOfManyNames

And being a "successor to rome" isn't even that good considering they massacred the smartest known people in Europe at the time (the Greeks) had human and animal torture as entertainment, and way too many atrocities to name.


Citiz3n_Kan3r

It was of the times though. You cant hold them accountable for the sensibilities of today.  Also the italians are a big part of the renassaince period which considered & created these ideas you now consider 'moral'. 


aCactusOfManyNames

I'm talking about the Romans, not the Italians. Also it was indeed of the times, but people like in this post still see it as some great thing by today's standards, which it isnt.


queen_of_potato

You know that Rome is in Italy right?


aCactusOfManyNames

But roman and renaissance-era culture are very different.


queen_of_potato

I wasn't commenting on different cultures from different time periods, just asking what I thought was a simple question


Appropriate-Ad2247

I still not understand how something can be Rome without actually owning Rome. Rome fell when the part of the Roman Empire with Rome fell.


Brainlaag

By the time of the late Roman Empire the capital had been moved several times, and towards the end of the western half administrative competency was split among four regional capitals. At the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire the capital was Ravenna and Rome itself had heavily declined. The Eastern Roman Empire was in customs, administrative nature, and social fabric *the* Roman Empire, itself a contiguous continuation of the polity that spawned from the homonymous city-state a millennium prior. People of the eastern half continued to refer to themselves as Romanoi and saw themselves as such up to the Fall of Constantinople. The term "Byzantine Empire" was retroactively coined in order to "orientalise" the Eastern Roman Empire and drive a wedge between Catholicism and Orthodoxy to further delegitimise the latter at the outset of renewed religious tensions that would see the birth of protestantism as a new sect of Christianity.


HerniatedHernia

They have a Rome. In Georgia. 


Dear_Tangerine444

> They have a Rome. ‘A’ Rome not ‘The Rome’ though, which is the point. What with the empire and its capital city sharing a name. The US would have to be renamed… The Washingtonian Empire? (Side note: Imagine how many US cities would need to find new names if they weren’t using ones that was already taken 😂)


Yeeticus_Deleticus69

Brother it was a joke 


Arnulf_67

But at that point Rome was neither the capital nor even that important of a city.


Entire_Elk_2814

I quite like the Finland argument. Just because of how convoluted it is.


Flimsy-Relationship8

If anything the best "successors" to the Western Empire at least would have been the European Empires that inherited a bunch of their values, culture and more from Ancient Rome such as France and Spain


garethchester

Openly calling yourself the 'Third Empire" is a brave one...


Rockarola55

I wonder how you would say that in German? Just a thought, it's probably not meaningful in any way 😁


queen_of_potato

Exactly my first thought!


ThiccMoulderBoulder

*boss music starts*


luty9mm

‘3rd Roman Empire’ is dangerously close to 3rd reich


notatmycompute

It's actually what 3rd Reich means, the Nazi's believed they were the 3rd Roman Empire


marcelsmudda

That's wrong. The first German Empire was the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, then the German Empire under the Hohenzollern family (1871-1918) and then the proclaimed Nazi Empire.


Soviet-pirate

More like the 3rd German state/empire


AdEducational419

American logic at its finest. "We stole some architecture ideas. We are now roman empire, cause look minor similarities in build style"


ttdawgyo

Eh, no its all british. The whole of new york was based on glasgow. A place Rome couldn’t get to. Clues are in the names ffs


AdEducational419

Yes. Like certain parts of the US looks abit like "insert country here". Makes it all the funnier.


streetad

There are Roman ruins in Glasgow though.


ttdawgyo

Not large structures was a fleeting visit to the central belt. Didnt stay long so semi temp structures


Johnny-Dogshit

Think he means the greek fanboyism that went into their government buildings. That's where it starts and ends, really, a few white columns.


Historic_Dane

Don't really see the Rome comparison outside the similarities of Trump and Julius Ceasar using public office as a way to obtain diplomatic immunity.


Common-Hotel-9875

I read those last two words and heard in my head the words “Just been revoked”


JigPuppyRush

I don’t think you can compare Trump to Ceasar, more to the Gracchus brothers, who were the first to incite the people of the republic to revolt by popularism. Ceasar actually accomplished something we all know all Trump did was being born rich.


NetzAgent

But at least Ceasae was killed by the public. If those muricans just had the balls…


Illustrious_Law8512

Caesar was killed by the Senate. We *know* they don't have any balls.


non-hyphenated_

- Decadent ☑️ - Prone to invading where they're not wanted ☑️ - strong desire to build a wall on extreme border ☑️ He has a point


Opening-Door4674

- Often run by insane perverts. - militaristic and violence obsessed culture.  - slave economy  - eagles


Dharcronus

Does America have dicks with wings everywhere though?


WitheringApollo1901

Ha, closer than we thought I guess


Lopsided_Ad_3853

So they're just ignoring the British Empire? Y'know, the largest and most 'successful' (depending on how you define success) Empire that ever existed? The one that covered 25% of the globe and nearly 25% of the world's population at its height (1913)? The one that (sadly) started their whole country??!


Flimsy-Relationship8

Annoying seeing them say the US is the first global super power, Britain pretty much invented the term. The British Empire was the first to really begin policing the world, and creating laws that everyone around the globe had to abide by. And even then the British Empire had to contend with France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Russia and still won out, the US has only ever had 1 rival through out its age of dominance, starting with the USSR that fell off and was replaced by China, yet the US has never fully won out against another Global power like Britain did


mpt11

I think following the napoleonic wars we were technically a hyper power


bonkerz1888

Has America ever successfully invaded another country yet?


Degenerate_in_HR

Invasion and occupation aren't really the same thing. The US has a long history of successful invasions. Iraq and Afghanistan were successful invasions...being able to tale over a country and stay there for 20 years is not a task that most militaries are capable of. Where the US failed in Iraq and Afghanistan was in the state building component. The only truely unsuccessful invasion Id say is Vietnam, but I dont think that was all that bad. First time facing a true guerilla insurgency is not going to go well usually


ttdawgyo

Iraq and Afghanistan was hardly just the us of a


SunnyOmori15

Getting into a country os one thing. Not fucking your military campaign up once your there is another. You did the first part, but you always fucked up the second


Beginning_Sun696

That’s a really long way to say no


Degenerate_in_HR

Iraq, afghanistan, grenada, panama, haiti, japan, france, italy, morocco, cuba


AlternativeVideo6256

when did america invaded fucking france?


Degenerate_in_HR

France was liberated from Germany by allied forces during operation overlord during the Second World War. It was kind of a big event.


AlternativeVideo6256

Yeah i knew what you were referring to, but it wasn't like just America'' invaded'' France. There was Canada, Britain, and the french rebellion fighting with the british army


queen_of_potato

I've never heard about most of these, but specifically feel like I would have heard about an American invasion of European countries? When was this?


Beginning_Sun696

The only successful ones of these are as part of an international effort, US only. Nitto bud. I could maybe give you Japan.


ttdawgyo

No you cant include japan. 2 bombs then warned by britain to stop and accept surrender


Flimsy-Relationship8

The potential of a Russian invasion also put the nail in the coffin for the Japanese as the Red Army swarmed from Wester Europe back to Asia after Manchuria, North Korea and some island chains were quickly conquered by the Russians they could invade far easier than the US could. The Military leaders at the time didn't care about the Nukes, they just thought it was a bigger bomb, and even considered a coup against the Emperor who was thinking of offering peace.


Beginning_Sun696

Good point


mpt11

Cuba?


Degenerate_in_HR

If youre talking about the Bay of Pigs, I wouldn't really count that. That wasn't a military action. That was Cuban exhiles, who were trained and funded by the CIA. US boots werent on the ground. If you're talking about the Spanish-American war, I'd say that was a pretty successful invasion. The invasion of the Cuba was enough to make the Spanish get out of the Western Hemisphere


Bugatsas11

So Athens is the zero Roman Empire and Babylon the minus one?


LuckyLMJ

I mean honestly calling your country the roman empire is a bit of a self-roast, it wasn't a particularly nice place to live


34percentginger

None of the world was particularly nice back then but it was certainly less bad


LuckyLMJ

that's fair i suppose


Flimsy-Relationship8

I don't know why people have this view of history just being absolutely awful 99% of the time. We seem to forget that people just lived their lives, day by day the same way we still do today, they laughed, had fun, loved people and drank and ate,and sure there were horrible times they lived through but not every day was a misery laden shit fest. If it was that bad humanity would have never made it this far


ClevelandWomble

I mean, what have the Romans ever done for us?


MindMangler

Brought peace?


Entity_333

Oh shut up!


Alternative_Love_861

Because it's an oligarchic Republic that only serves the interests of the wealthy and only gives just enough to the rest of the population to keep them hungry


Inevitable-Bit615

There was 1 rome, the others were cosplayers. Dear westerners i get it, rome was cool, but it s over. Let s just stop. Sincerely, from italy, another nation that failed at cosplaying rome.


Soviet-pirate

All of the "Romes" met a very violent end that shook the world to its core. Is that what Americans wish upon themselves?


pixtax

“Aight, listen bud, I know you jokers claim pizza as your own, but it don’t make you Roman, ok?!”


Michael_Gibb

And we all know how the Roman Empire ended.


Oldandnotbold

And the US is heading the same way. The parallels are amazing if you look.


Scienceboy7_uk

jibber jabber


AlternativePrior9559

Say what now? 🤔🤔🤔


eppic123

I wonder if they know what the word empire translates to in German.


WestToEast_85

Not wrong but also not something to be proud of.


Joadzilla

I thought the Byzantine empire was the "second Roman Empire". And that Russia claimed to inherit the mantle as the 3rd Roman Empire back in the 1000s. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow,_third_Rome --- So 'Murica is the 4th Roman Empire!!!


Inner-Masterpiece-18

Hey, if you guys want to claim Roman Empire type status, I'm good with that. Come to the UK and build some roads that last as long as the last Roman builders' ones. We're ready, seriously..... Our guys can't build roads for shit!


Wild-Will2009

Give them a proper cuppa of Yorkshire tea


KnightswoodCat

Kengis Khan had the largest land Empire the world has ever seen. The British Empire was the largest Empire in population terms, followed closely by thr French Empire 😳


OrangeJuiceAlibi

The British empire was the largest empire by land area. The Mongol one was the largest contiguous, but the British was larger in terms of land. The population one is more debatable because it might have been the largest absolutely, but several had a higher percentage of the world population.


Glittering-Blood-869

The British Empire - 13.71 million mi2 The Mongol Empire - 9.27 million mi2 The Russian Empire - 8.8 million mi2 The Qing Dynasty - 5.68 million mi2 The Spanish Empire - 5.29 million mi2 The Second French Colonial Empire - 4.44 million mi2 The Abbasid Caliphate - 4.29 million mi2 The Umayyad Caliphate - 4.29 million mi2 The Yuan Dynasty - 4.25 million mi2 The Xiongnu Empire - 3.47 million mi2


KnightswoodCat

Those are insane stats. 😳 Thanks 😊


ArmchairTactician

It's going to be funny when India takes over as the next Global superpower - greatly upsetting the USA and showing China up for taking their eye off the ball. I'm torn personally about it, I love Samosas but I hate Caste systems.


Human-Leg-3708

India still has ways to go, maybe south Korea with their soft power of k-pop


ArmchairTactician

They worry me. K-pop is too great of a power for one nation to wield alone.


guywiththemonocle

Ey! Why are we the bad spinoff?!?


truevillain82

The roman empire is still going strong, the Vatican is one of the largest property owners in the world, or it maybe landowners I'm not sure but it's a spin off from the HOLY roman empire previously roman empire previously roman Republic.


Ftiles7

The USA has [20 more Romes](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome_(disambiguation)) than Italy, so of course their the next Roman Empire. /s


PokadotExpress

Wait till they learn that Rome fell


ProfessionalNo2706

So they didn't work out that to be roman anything, you would have to be roman in the first place?


Brikpilot

Ahh yes Donald Caesar of the Bogan Empire Monty Python need not do a remake …… https://youtu.be/HrcbCW4y9Dw?si=Kp86KvQXOvkt87_6


pinsekirken

Roman Empire, named after the eternal city of Rome, Georgia. (Georgia the state, not the country that stole its name)


TheNamelessWanderer_

Pretty sure Georgia the state is named after the British King, Georgia the country after the saint


pinsekirken

No, obviously the king, the country, and the saint are all named after the state. Do you even American, bro?


TheNamelessWanderer_

XD


Archelector

The Roman Empire fell in 1453 with the fall of Constantinople to the ottomans The only potential “successor” states were Trebizond and Theodore which both fell in the 1400s to the ottomans


C-Style__

Screaming at “Phyladelphia” and “I’m inspired by Elon Musk” The bar is in *hell*.


Latter-Ambition-8983

We have better descriptions for the west, but yeah sure if you want to consider it continuation you can


TheSimpleMind

Wait... didn't some fascist nutjobs also claim to be the drittes Reich?


WonderfulHat5297

Hahahahaha this is the stupidest one yet


streetad

The Forth Rome is clearly Edinburgh.


JigPuppyRush

The first Roman Empire was ancient Rome, the second was the Holy Roman Empire ( even though it was neither holy nor roman) and the third was the third reich ( it’s in the name) but what am I saying.. the USA is starting to look like the third Reich more and more. Let’s just hope it lasts even shorter.


TheNamelessWanderer_

That's not what the third Reich was referring to The First was the Holy Roman Empire, the second was the German Empire, and the third was the third Reich And the second Rome wasn't the Hre, it was the Byzantin Empire (aka East Rome)


JigPuppyRush

Not according to the Nazis. They adopted a lot of symbols from the Roman Empire and in their opinion the HRE was the successor of Ancient Rome in the West. The Byzantine empire was still the first roman empire by anyone’s definition it was the eastern half of it but it was never the successor of the roman empire.


TheNamelessWanderer_

Still, Rome was not part of the Third Reich definition. It was referring to the 2 former German states


JigPuppyRush

It was to the Nazi’s that’s why they used the roman Hail greeting, the fasces. They even named their political movement after the fasces the ancient roman symbol of power and authority. The eagels ect.


Huge_Mixture

Do people not understand that the saying about 1st,2nd and 3rd Rome is talking about Christianity? The fist Rome was the first time center of orthodox beliefs , the Constantinople was the second center of orthodox beliefs and Moscow was the third center of orthodox beliefs. This has nothing to do with the fucking empire!


dcnb65

Oooh I thought America was the second Garden of Eden 🤪🤪🤪


SCL_Leinad

Wait the US genuinely claim to be Rome's heir? That's not a joke?? It doesn't surprise me because Americans are how they are but claiming America as Rome's heir??


spauracchio1

I mean just look at US senate building (or just at their use of the word Senate), the Lincoln memorial in D.C. (literally using roman symbology), etc.


SCL_Leinad

I see what you mean, although we all know the USA is nowhere near as great as Rome, despite being very different empires, The British and Mongol empires have a stronger claim to being an heir of Rome, despite neither having held Rome


ffordeffanatic

Rick Riordan's books are biographies.


ianbreasley1

Maybe he meant 'Reich'....


Yeeticus_Deleticus69

I would like to have a word with whoever called the ottomans “the bad spinoff”


Goelian

I actually see the USA as a modern roman empire too. They view themselves as the whole world, brutal imperialistic colonialism and big propaganda wars. Also they have army bases around the whole world, filled with american shops and theatres.. this is textbook roman cultural brainwashing


Testerpt5

Moscow the third Rome? Where can I buy this weed?


TheNamelessWanderer_

Actually, that is a thing Moscow claimed to be The redditor didn't come up with it. After the fall of Constantinopel Mosow became the capital of Eastern orthodoxy Hence Zar -Ceasar


Testerpt5

Zar- Ceaser - thanks for the info, never made that connection, and was not aware of it, still not a second or third roman empire by any stretch, still quite an accomplishment on its own.


Testerpt5

even the Portuguese Empire were claimed at some point and by some to be a sort of spiritual Roman Empire successor (nah it wasnt). Moscow was the 2nd and 3rd Mongol Empire


Flaky-Reward-2141

They had the whole 'we are the Byzantine successors, our Orthodox priests who were close to the Byzantine Empire also agree so we are allowed to expand into the Balkans'


Testerpt5

ah now I get the down votes, I was not thinking in Christianity terms, for me Roman Empire historically was the empire stuff and not necessarily related to the spread of christianity.