The Roman Empire TikTok Trend Is Not Just For Men — I’m A Woman Obsessed With HBO’s ‘Rome’

Over the weekend, the Roman Empire became viral over TikTok, Twitter (now masquerading as “X”), and in general social media discourse. The reason? Posters started pointing out that men devote a sizable portion of their daily lives thinking about the Roman Empire. While many men confirmed that, yes, they spend their idle time wondering about the engineering behind aqueducts, the rush of watching chariot races in the Colosseum, and the monumental creation of the Via Appia, some women also asserted that they, too, think about the Roman Empire. I am one of these women. We exist. And when I say I’m spending my time thinking of the Roman Empire, what I mean is HBO‘s Rome.

I am constantly thinking of HBO’s underrated 2005 historic drama Rome. You know, the incredible drama about the fall of the Roman Republic starring a murderer’s row of British character actors? The show that actually had the audacity to paint the marbles of Rome in historically accurate blood-red paint and omnipresent phallic graffiti? The show where Ian McNiece, the SyFy Channel’s version of Baron Harkonnen, would cry out the news to passersby in the Forum? You know, Rome, the series that showed HBO that people would tune in for an expensive series that immersed viewers in the complex politics and love lives of aristocrats, only that it would be a bigger, better show with CGI dragons. (I literally sold my mom on Game of Thrones by telling her it was Rome with magic.)

Whenever Tobias Menzies throws down yet another killer performance in a prestige project, I think about the scene where his version of Brutus confronts Ciaran Hinds’s Julius Caesar over a board game. You know Brutus will soon betray his mentor, but Menzies makes you feel like Brutus is the wronged one. (I also have spent too many hours wondering if showrunner Bruno Heller purposely cast Menzies because he looks like he could have been Caesar’s secret biological son by mistress Servilia [Lindsay Duncan].)

When someone pisses me off, I think about the way last year’s Best Supporting Actress Oscar-nominee Kerry Condon sobs she wants Pompey dead after he jilts her for a more conservative bride. I think of how the glorious Polly Walker purrs, “And that you shall have,” as the sexually-irrepressible, forever-scheming Atia. It remains wild to me that Bridgerton was the first show to realize what an incredible motherfucker of a mother Walker can be on screen!

Every night when I put myself to bed in my tiny Manhattan studio, I think how much I would love to have a massive bed that doubled as a tent and a form of transportation, like Cleopatra (Lyndsey Marshall) has in Rome. Sure, she’s high as a kite and certain she’s about to be executed, but she looks cozy. You know, until Kathryn Hunter slaps her out of her fugue and bullies her into seducing Caesar.

I love Rome. It is, in my opinion, the smartest, seediest drama HBO has ever produced. Hell, I even named my stubborn — but loyal! — ginger cat Lucius after Kevin McKidd’s stubborn —  but loyal! — ginger protagonist Lucius Vorenus. And if I ever get a second male pet, there’s a non-zero chance I will name him after the late, great Ray Stevenson’s Titus Pullo.

Even when I’m not thinking of Rome, Rome is in my life. All of which is to say that Rome is my Roman Empire and you should consider making it yours, too. If nothing else, you’ll get to see James Purefoy fuck, fight, and act his way across Italy.

Already binged through Rome? Here are five other Roman Empire Things to Watch:

• I, Claudius: The O.G. Ancient Roman drama remains one of the most spectacular shows ever made.
• Gladiator: Revisit Sir Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning flick before Paul Mescal takes over the fight in the sequel.
• Roman Empire: Netflix’s boob-tastic docuseries that’s more soap than scholarly lesson.
• Spartacus: Starz’s gory drama about the legendary freedom-fighter might be more your speed if Rome’s too classy for you.
• Caligula: The Ultimate Cut: Okay, so the newly restored version of the infamously pornographic film isn’t streaming yet, but you can read Charles Bramesco’s 2023 Cannes review and get the gist.