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by tar0m
32 days ago
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Interesting questions. For the "senate" part, I'm not sure but I would lean towards no. SPQR is mostly a symbol nowadays and doesn't necessarily refer to its original meaning. The modern political status of Rome is messy, with some degree of independence by virtue of being the capital, but not nearly enough when you compare it to other Western capitals. It's an ongoing debate. In terms of the far past, well... there are reminders of it in every nook and cranny of the city. It's beautiful and you only realize this when you leave for a bit and then come back. Most people are just used to it. Personally, I feel a sense of continuity: you can read about some obscure anecdote in a history book and then walk over to the place where it happened. Or you walk by a building and find a plaque describing some event from 5 centuries ago. Many Roman roads and neighborhoods still exist today and have kept their original names. If you go to a big concert, chances are the venue will be the Circus Maximus. I think most residents don't realize how crazy that kind of continuity is. It's not just the Ancient Romans either: there's plenty of stuff from the Middle Ages, when Rome was essentially the capital of a theocratic state, very different in spirit from the Roman Empire. The most interesting thing for me is looking back at the ancient Romans and realizing how much of a different mentality they (probably) had, compared to today. At least in the early and middle stages of the empire, they were efficient and ruthless, but also cosmopolitan and had a very clear notion of the public good. They had enormous resources and they would use them, for example, to build gigantic villas for the top guys, but also to build public housing for workers that they knew they needed. Today we don't have that kind of "laser focus", as we would call it. Modern Rome is messy and decadent, we can barely paint a few bike lanes and keep the wild boars off the streets. Times change :') |
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