This is a question you’ve probably seen a thousand times on your TikTok for you page. It is called the #roman-empire trend. With over 1.3 billion views, it started in August with celebs like Ryan Reynolds joining in. He shared a selfie with the caption “Just thinkin about the Roman Empire”

“I think it’s a good trend that helps students become more educated on the empire,” said Mr. Nicholas Shaheen.

Men really are thinking about the Roman Empire, but why? The Roman Empire was a large and powerful empire that lasted for over 400 years and left a lasting legacy in Western Civilization, which is even more evident when you listen to the responses from men to this trending question.

“Once a week I’ll be doing the most random things and it’ll pop up on my for you page and it’ll be all I think about,” said sophomore Claudio Tartaglia- Gutierrez.

 Some of the many inventions we can thank the Romans for include aqueducts, language, architecture, and the spread of Christianity.

“I see the videos on my for you page every once in a while and I’ll start thinking about all the things we have today because of the Roman Empire,” said sophomore Valerio Londono. 

Why are people asking about this?

It all started with the Swedish TikTok user “ Gaius Flavius.” He is a Roman re-enactor with over 2.5 million likes. He uploaded a video prompting women to ask the men in their life how often they think about the Roman Empire, and how they might be surprised by their answers.

There’s no doubt that this trend is hilarious. It’s entertaining seeing guys’ reaction to the question and their serious interest in their response. This leaves the women either in complete shock or amusement.

“I think it’s funny because I can tell a lot of the guys are being serious,” said Sophomore Stefan Harrington