11亿人争当“精神罗马人”——西方男性为何如此热衷于罗马？

1.1 billion. That’s how many views the hashtag #romanempire has on TikTok. According to the bizarre new TikTok trend, men think about the Roman Empire more often than you would expect.

11亿次的浏览量——在TikTok上，人们如此频繁地关注着#romanempire（罗马帝国）这个视频标签。这个不同寻常的新趋势显示，西方世界的男性对于罗马帝国的关注超乎想象。

一位女生询问了男友平时想到罗马帝国的次数，他的回答是差不多每两天就会想起一次；另一位TikTok用户问了她的兄弟同样的问题，得到的答案是一周两到三次。

Some celebrities have joined in on the trend. Australian singer Firerose asked her fiance, Billy Ray Cyrus, how many times a day he thinks about the Roman Empire. “15 to 20, max,” Cyrus said, specifying he thinks about gladiators.

一些名人也卷进了这股潮流之中。澳大利亚歌手Firerose问未婚夫Billy Ray Cyrus一天会想到罗马帝国多少次。Cyrus回答“最多能有15到20次”，并强调自己尤其频繁地想到古罗马角斗士。

Singer and actress Kira Kosarin participated in the trend, posting a video to her 31 million followers asking her fiance how often he thinks about the empire. “Three times a day,” he said, adding there’s “so much to think about.”

歌手兼演员Kira Kosarin也积极参与了这个活动，向自己的3100万粉丝发布了一段视频。在视频中，她向未婚夫提了同样的问题，而未婚夫回答：“一天三次。罗马帝国有太多事情可以思考了。”

In one TikTok video (which garnered 1.5 million likes) satirizing the trend, a group of men and women are hanging out watching football—but when all of the women get up and leave, the men immediately turn on a Roman Empire documentary.

TikTok上也有某条视频试图讽刺该现象，并已获得了150万个赞。视频中，一群男女正聚在一起看足球比赛，而当所有的女性都起身离开之后，在场的男性立马就看起了一部关于罗马帝国的纪录片。

They have plenty of reasons why, including the empire’s vastness, gladiators and architectural advancements.

罗马如此吸引他们的原因有许多，包括罗马帝国广阔的疆域、强壮的角斗士以及先进的建筑。

The Roman Empire boasted a dominion that stretched across the entire Mediterranean basin and far beyond. It was a flourishing laboratory of works of art and engineering that continue to astound. And it operated under a political system that still forms the basis of many modern counterparts.

罗马帝国的疆域横跨整个地中海盆地，仿佛无止境地绵延；在罗马文化的孕育下，艺术和工程的蓬勃发展也令人咋舌；庞大帝国的长治久安离不开罗马的民主政体，而这一体制也为现代诸多国家的制度奠定了基础。

Some men enthusiastic about the empire have backed it up with evidence: “Why wouldn’t I think about the Roman Empire?” one user asked, praising the Romans for creating aqueducts and running water and making concrete known for its strength and ability to be set underwater.

一些罗马帝国的发烧友还提出了其他证据。一名用户称赞说，罗马人建造了输水管道，运用了自来水，并且打造了举世闻名的、强度高且能在水下放置的建筑材料——混凝土*。“这让我怎能不想到罗马帝国的伟大呢？”他反问。

译注：此处的“混凝土”指罗马帝国所制的建筑材料“罗马混凝土”（又称“罗马水泥”），与现代所定义及使用的“混凝土”并不完全相同。

Other answers are more straightforward, simply “because it’s cool.”

也有其他更直接的答案，比如只是“因为它很酷”。

哪条“大路”引向了罗马？

The trend may have first been popularized by Artur Hulu, known as “Gaius Flavius” on social media, a Roman reenactor who posts comedy sketches as a gladiator, according to a Washington Post report.

据《华盛顿邮报》报道，这一趋势最早的推广者可能是Artur Hulu，即人们所知的网红“Gaius Flavius”。这名罗马题材演员在社交媒体上扮演角斗士，发布自制的喜剧小品。

The influencer first posed the viral question on Instagram last month, and more recently on TikTok last week. “Ladies, many of you do not realise how often men think about the Roman Empire. Ask your husband / boyfriend / father / brother - you will be surprised by their answers!” he wrote.

2023年8月，Gaius Flavius首次在Instagram上提出了这个不胫而走的问题——他写道：“女士们，你们许多人都意识不到，男人会多么经常地想到罗马帝国。问问你们的丈夫、男友、父亲、兄弟——他们的答案会让你大吃一惊！”不到一个月后，他又在TikTok上重提了这一问题。

“此罗马”非“彼罗马”？

Some historians have noted the Roman Empire—which was dominant until its fall in A.D. 476—isn’t just for men, despite what the trend may suggest.

在该趋势的爆火下，罗马这一深受男性欢迎的帝国，仿佛也被默认为男性的天下；但也有历史学家注意到，罗马帝国——从虎踞世界久久以来，直至于公元476年灭亡前——不仅仅由男性所掌控。

但为何如今人们在想到罗马时，却一贯认为其存在不可忽视的性别差异呢?

Some historians told the Washington Post popular culture may have overemphasized aspects deemed masculine, like military power and gladiators, creating a masculine image of the empire.

若干历史学家向《华盛顿邮报》表示，可能是流行文化过分强调了所谓男性化的方面，比如军事力量和角斗士，才打造了如今人们眼中罗马“男性化”的帝国形象。

英国伯明翰大学的古代世界史学家Hannah Cornwell表示，至少从19世纪开始，历史学家常常会戴着政治和战争的有色眼镜来审视古罗马，而历史资料中“精英、男性化”的叙事对研究者的影响也是原因之一。

“That has informed popular culture,” she said. “And yet — it’s then missing out on so much.”

“这种历史表达也影响了流行文化呈现罗马的角度。”Cornwell表示，“无论如何，这让我们眼中的罗马狭隘太多了。”

In reality, the Roman Empire had “numerous forms of masculinity, women could have agency and power, and there were multiple gender expressions and identities, as well as various sexualities,” Lewis Webb, a historian of ancient Rome at Oxford University, told the Washington Post.

实际上，在罗马帝国中，“男子气概能够外化为多种形式，女性也可以享有能动性和权力，社会能够包容多种性别表达和身份，也能涵养丰富的性意识”——牛津大学古罗马历史学家Lewis Webb如此告知《华盛顿邮报》。

There were also female gladiators. “The Romans do have a clear sense of what is masculine and feminine, but within that there is an awful lot of flexibility. Which sometimes we often forget about.”  Cornwell points out.

罗马也存在女性角斗士。“罗马社会确实存在明显的男女之别，但它并非是人们眼中一成不变的刻板形象，而有时我们常常忘记这一点。”Cornwell指出。

bizarre 

adj. conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual 奇异的，古怪的

例：Fantasies cannot harm you, no matter how bizarre or far out they are.

garner

v. acquire or deserve by one's efforts or actions 获得

例：Those who can make life’s mundane details interesting garner a large audience.

masculinity 

n. the qualities, especially sexual qualities, which are considered to be typical of men 男性；阳性；男子气概

例：He felt it was a threat to his masculinity.