A Roman Empire Today..

[Jimbow]

[/quoteLike if the netherlands were to convert ot romanism they have no need for missles or tanks. No one will invade them. they haven;t yet.]

 

Sorry, very late on this, only just joined. I seem to remember Holland was invaded and taken over by Germany in WW2. The Dutch Queen Wilhelmina was based here in London during the war, while the Dutch ran their resistance operations from here also.

[Jimbow]

And I obviously haven't worked out how to put text into a proper quote box

[Fafnir]

Lmao, yeah apparently so. This is the code (but change the { }'s to [ ]'s).

 

{QUOTE}Text of quote...{/QUOTE}

 

Making the result look like...

 

Text of quote...

[Primus Pilus]

Or you can quote an entire post just by hitting the 'quote' button in the upper right of every post.

[Zeke]

lol......Wow this disscusion sky rocketed out of control. Well I am back now from my comuter crashing.

 

You know....to be honest for all the past responses, my theory is this. A Roman Empire could form today from the basis of the European Union and if Greeco/Roman Paganism was set up in several states. If a Roman Political Party ran for office in several countries then they would change the whole spectrum. Two Consuls instead of a Prime Minister and a Vice Prime Minister. And a huge Senate...I don't know I am fanstasying here.

 

But a Roman Republic Party! That is the key for Romanized Politics to enter Europe. Just a thought

 

Sorry about spelling,

Zeke

[Ursus]

Yes, the Low Countries were invaded by the Germans in the Second World War. Belgium and Luxemborg were invaded by Germany as a way of bypassing the French Maginot line. The Netherlands were invaded to establish a German supply line on the way to attack Norway.

 

It was their proximity to larger, richer and more strategic nations that made the low countries valuable. ;-)

[Lex]

Hi all, I'm new to the forum.

The last person to try to revive the Roman Empire was definately Mussolini. The symbol of the Fascist Party was the fasces .The party also adopted the Roman salute (unfortunately copied by the Nazis). Many miltary units and ranks were also given Roman names, for example the famous Decima MAS was named after the X legion of Julius Caesar.

 

Mussolini's title of Dux (il Duce) is usually incorrectly interpreted in English and as most of you know the title of Dux meant 'military leader' in the late Roman Empire. The Fascists also tried to change the attitude of the Italians by trying to enforce a more martial attitude. Much Roman symbolism was used in propaganda and the Roman eagle was also widely used. The architecture of the Fascist government was also inspired by Roman architecture, especially the marketplaces built according to their system of town-planning. The dates were also changed to Roman numerals. The Mediteranean was also renamed to 'Mare Nostrum'.

 

Another interesting thing I found is about the Vatican. Apparently the Vatican considered themselves as the last remaining representatives of the Western Roman Empire. Apparently the first Pope was officially recognised by Constantine by one of his laws, making the Pope an Imperial agent. And when the West fell, the Pope was then recognised by the Eastern Roman Empire as an Imperial agent.

 

Therefore the Pope was legally able to bestow titles such as 'Patrician of the Romans' etc. and later the titles of Emperor. From what I read on the online Catholic Encylopedia (I'm not Catholic), the Pope apparently never lost his official capacity as an Imperial agent and considered their 'Papal States' up till 1870 as technically being Roman. They regarded the unification of Italy as an unlawfull act and the conflict between the Church and the state is still not completely resolved.

 

So is the Vatican, in a technical sense, the last remaining vestiges of the Western Roman Empire?

[Ursus]

Probably. Especially when the Pope still carries the old pagan title of Pontifex Maximus.

[Primus Pilus]

While I agree with most of your statement, the title of 'Pope' was actually around long before Constantine.

 

Here's a list beginning with St. Peter Popes

[TonyGee]

I dont think The Roman Empire could be reformed in any shape or form, Lets not forget a lot of what made Rome what it was, brutality, slavery, corruption on a huge scale. Rome was built on its military prowess where they were the ultimate threat to any who stepped out of line, with all the modern rules of engagement that would be almost impossible to do.

 

As for the EU i think that its more in line with ancient greece only with the City states becoming Nation states or at least thats how it seems to me.

[Lex]

Hi, sorry for the poor format of my last post but I was in quite a hurry when I wrote it.

 

Thanks for the link primuspilus, but what I meant about Constantine was that wasn

[Primus Pilus]

St. Damasus I should've been the first pope to assume the title Pontifex Maximus. When Gratian (the Western Emperor) abdicated the title to the Christian Pope, at the dictate of Theodosius (the Eastern Emperor), the Popes, rather than the Emperors assumed the role of head priest of the Roman state religion.

[Locke]

Well, I'm no scholar, but I think it is not possible. I think that unless you had lots of money, you couldn't go around testing everyone to see if they we're a pure blooded roman, and being able to tell if they are pure-blooded would be even more difficult. I would think that it would just be a bunch of people trying to relive a dream of a past civilization. I do think however, that if there was a new Roman empire, I wouldn't join it, Americana for me, I like the freedom I have here.

[Ursus]

Early Romans considered the Tiber river sacred. The bridges that crossed the river were also sacred. A religious official charged with upkeep of a sacred bridge was called a Pontifex, or bridge builder.

 

Gradually the Pontiffs formed a college and became the governing body of a more evolving Roman State religion. Their head was the Pontifex Maximus, chief priest. Later the Christians bishops of Rome would assume the title.

[Ursus]

Locke, Roman citizenship has little to do with blood. The provincial elites were granted Roman citizenship, as did anyone who put their time in with the legions. And then at some point, I think 225 (maybe Primuspilus can confirm that date) all free born males within the empire were granted citizenship.

 

 

Yeah, there are many reasons we can't have a reborn Roman empire, but I don't think whether or not someone is genetically descended from Romans really matters all that much. Few civilizations were so apt to grant citizenship to outsiders as Rome. We Westerners all carry their legacy.