An hypothetical journey through resurrecting and ancient Roman and showing him our world!

Initial Cognitive Dissonance (1 minute 30 seconds): The ancient Roman, upon their initial exposure to the 21st century, would undoubtedly experience a profound sense of cognitive dissonance. The monumental scale and architectural complexity of modern urban landscapes, replete with towering skyscrapers and intricate transportation networks, would present a stark contrast to the still amazing monumentary structures of their native era. The Roman would likely struggle to comprehend the sheer magnitude and intricacy of contemporary society, as it represents a radical departure from the familiar paradigms of their historical context.

Culture
Military
Technology
Society
Language
Religion
Geography
Demographic growth
the scale of our biggest cities
Transportation networks
Amenities
Economy (but no)

And of course many others I mean when it comes to imagination the sky is the limit, right Prometheus? Hey, HEY! Where do you think you are going?

What a mess, sorry I got hot cera all over.

1. Technology: They would be dumbfounded by our advanced technology - aircraft, rockets, satellites, computers, internet, smartphones, etc. The concept of information traveling instantaneously around the globe would seem like sorcery to them.
2. Scale of cities: While Rome was a massive city in its day, the scale, population size, and towering skyscrapers of modern mega-cities like Tokyo, New York, or Shanghai would be almost incomprehensible.
3. Transportation: They would be amazed by our modern vehicles - cars, trains, ships, and airplanes allowing travel at speeds and scales they couldn't even imagine.
4. Amenities: Running water, electricity, climate control, modern medicine - things we take for granted would seem like miracles from the future.
5. Social changes: The concepts of democracy, human rights, and the abolition of slavery would be radical ideas. Gender equality and tolerance of different cultures/religions would also be quite foreign.
6. Military technology: Modern weaponry like nuclear arms, drones, missiles, and advanced conventional arms would be terrifying in their immense destructive capabilities.
7. Scale of populations: The entire population of the Roman Empire at its peak (60-80 million) would be dwarfed by the populations of single modern nations like China or India.

Geographic

When we talk about the geographic aspect we should probably divide our elucubration in two, physical geography and political geography. The Physical aspect of the world would be a
the idea of exploration was always a main aspect of Roman foreign affairs and endavour, and as a civilization the Roman did absolutely push the boundaries of their territories, always seeking to reach far away lands for commercial and military purposes alike.
Did they believe there were more lands to discover? (ASK QUESTION)
What did the Romans think about Exploration efforts? (ASK QUESTION)
The expression "the known world" can also help us see things in a different perspective.

From a political aspect, what would be their reaction about the fact that the empire or Rome in general doesn't control the world.
Religion

The fall of the traditional Roman gods would most likely be seen differently depending on who we were able to bring back from the past.
Were there ancient Roman atheists? (ASK THE QUESTION)
if we are talking about a Roman who worshipped the gods this would be a catastrophic discovery. Even more so due to the spread of Christianity. In other words, they took over would most likely be their reaction. From his perspective it would be as if a different religion compared to yours were to take over completely in the future.
If we are talking about instead a Christian Roman so one of the early converts, he would clearly rejoice and see it as proof that he chose the right religion afterall. From persecuted marginal religion to a main stream religion in the majority of the territories of the empire would be. To give us perspective it would be as if your current religion if you have one were to become the main religion on planet earth Mars and Mercury.

It probably in my opinion having read quite a bit of the classics and how the Romans discussed relgion it woudl really depend on two factorsm is this a Romans pre Christianity or post Christianity?
And 2 how are we explaining/showing him our current religious connotations.
If it was a Roman who saw the beginning of Christianity it would make for a much more interesting reaction to be honest.

#ancientrome #alternativehistory #whatif

свернуть