I didn't even finish the rest of this post before coming down here to comment:
When Nate asked me how often I think about the Roman Empire it was an easy weekly answer for sure. I love hearing you're the same. In good company. ALSO, that Corot is gorgeous. The colors!
Name a historical period and I can pretty much guarantee that I have thought about it in the past week. I'm a historian so I'm a weirdo in that way, but one of my life goals is to get other people to think about history regularly and in imaginative and applicable ways! I can't tell you how gratifying it is to see this happening re; the Roman Empire!
(When my husband asked me the other day how often I thought about the Roman Empire I was admittedly taken aback. He doesn't read this substack but evidently our interests overlap enough that wherever he's engaged they're talking about this too. )
For the record my answer was infrequently, if at all. While I would consider Gladiator one of my favorite movies, admit to watching the HBO Series Rome back in the day, and devoured Francine Rivers' Voice in the Wind series as a teenager...it never occurred to me that the Roman Empire was something one (males, evidently!) dwelt on regularly. So I was gobsmacked to find he is not unique among men in thinking about it daily.
And I should confess I'm a former high school history (and English) teacher. So I'm feeling challenged - in a good way - to use my historical imagination just a bit more and see how enriching it can be to my present day circumstances.
I kept looking for "The Third Age of Middle Earth," but, alas. I chose the ancient world instead, because I'm so often engrossed in one of the Old Testament narratives. Like our pastor says (from the pulpit, of course), "You want rated R? Read the Bible. There's some crazy stuff in there."
Wow, I can't wait to see the results of this poll! What a great plug for historical imagination.
I didn't even finish the rest of this post before coming down here to comment:
When Nate asked me how often I think about the Roman Empire it was an easy weekly answer for sure. I love hearing you're the same. In good company. ALSO, that Corot is gorgeous. The colors!
Somehow this doesn't surprise me in the least, Lore. Great minds! 🤜🤛
How many of us think regularly about the Enlightenment? 🥴
Name a historical period and I can pretty much guarantee that I have thought about it in the past week. I'm a historian so I'm a weirdo in that way, but one of my life goals is to get other people to think about history regularly and in imaginative and applicable ways! I can't tell you how gratifying it is to see this happening re; the Roman Empire!
I frequently think about how much our post-modern worldview and culture is affected by the Enlightenment. Does that count?
Yes, exactly my thoughts!
(When my husband asked me the other day how often I thought about the Roman Empire I was admittedly taken aback. He doesn't read this substack but evidently our interests overlap enough that wherever he's engaged they're talking about this too. )
For the record my answer was infrequently, if at all. While I would consider Gladiator one of my favorite movies, admit to watching the HBO Series Rome back in the day, and devoured Francine Rivers' Voice in the Wind series as a teenager...it never occurred to me that the Roman Empire was something one (males, evidently!) dwelt on regularly. So I was gobsmacked to find he is not unique among men in thinking about it daily.
And I should confess I'm a former high school history (and English) teacher. So I'm feeling challenged - in a good way - to use my historical imagination just a bit more and see how enriching it can be to my present day circumstances.
I kept looking for "The Third Age of Middle Earth," but, alas. I chose the ancient world instead, because I'm so often engrossed in one of the Old Testament narratives. Like our pastor says (from the pulpit, of course), "You want rated R? Read the Bible. There's some crazy stuff in there."