In this video we explore the beliefs of J. R. R. Tolkien on the subject of the Roman Empire, as well as how Rome influenced Middle Earth and the Lord of the Rings!
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Any feedback is always welcome, I hope you enjoy!!
Below are the songs used in the order they are played:
Josef Suk, Serenade, Op 6 by A Far Cry
W. A. Mozart, Symphony No.38 in D major by A Far Cry
Symphony No. 5 (by Beethoven) by artist stated as “Beethoven” in Youtube Studio but I doubt the man came from the dead to record it
source
So Intersting!
The roman empire existed before the holy roman Catholic church its hardly hard to understand.
In fairness to the Romans, "Multiple nations living in peace" was a foreign concept to the ancient world. It became a concept precisely because of the Roman Empire. Rome after all had been sacked by the Gauls in 390 BC, and doubtless would have been again had it not been conquered in its turn. People at the time took it for granted that force was the only way to preserve peace. I grant everything Tolkien believed about Empire (corrupt, exploitative, destructive to culture) but I also must own that independent nations living in peace generally happens only when rough parity in multiple vectors (population, wealth, military) is in place. Alas, nature abhors an equilibrium, and Pareto distribution is real. I pray for peace, but I don't expect it.
This is internationalist patriotism, which is anti-imperialist and peace-loving, that despises militarism and national chauvinism and is friendly towards all countries. Very much the same kind of patriotism that all socialists have.
3:40 tolkien was evidently not a traditionalist, as he outright states he would love other cultures, he even makes his own fantasy and culture
that is fundamentally against traditionalism
I think his books are garbage
5:50 Did Tolkien really write "(grr!)" in letter 53?!
Yet another reason to like Tolkien.
If he saw what has happened to England now he would vomit and would have joined Germany in both wars.
If you think he disliked the Romans,
Jr Hartley will refuse you mentioned them in his company
This made me respect Tolkien even more!
Because it was better than Britannica 👍
Without Rome, there is no Britain. All of humanity had stagnated for eons until the dawn of empire. The Celts had to be dragged into civilization in order to achieve cooperation, just like every other pre-historic society. Empire brings stability. Leave the Celts in a vacuum and their descendants never get the internet to whine about the loss.
Woe to the vanquished
Did it have anything to do with the fact that they were a bunch of fat, decadent, culture destroying imperialists?
As someone who studies classical archaeology and hates oversimplification of history, I want to add something here:
Just saying the Romans "eradicated" the cultures they conquered is a simplification so radical that it makes the statement wrong. Because modern people will hear this and think the Romans were kind of like the Germans, obsessed with erasing every other culture on their conquered lands and forcing their way onto them. The Romans were quite different. Local cultures were never eradicated, just romanized. An example: Gallic temples were now built in stone, not in wood. What? The Romans built temples to foreign gods? Yes, they did, even in their own capital. The Roman was multicultural af, and this was generally not seen as a bad thing, but as an enrichment. Latin became the official language in every province, but common people were still speaking whatever they spoke before. They could basically do everything they did before, just with better technology. There are only very few examples where Rome actually eradicated a culture; and if they did, it was because they were arch-enemies of Rome, not because cultural eradication was typical Roman procedere.
Cruel things the Romans did on an usual basis was enslaving part of the population (oh surprise! It's not like everyone who ever conquered something did that. The people Rome conquered were no different in that), but speaking of eradication of local cultures without adding a lot of more information, gives people a wrong idea.
I just wanted to add this; otherwise this was a really good and interesting video. Thank you!
“Empire-building and its consequences have been a disaster for humanity.”
-Abraham Lincoln
Wonder if Tolkien ever found out about microstates
in his times they would still be enough rural to remind him the shire
Overall, Rome did not eradicate cultures. They were simply assimilated into the Empire.
0:58 that was the Byzantines
Don’t let Tolkien find out American then, so many different cultures and religions living all under freedom and democracy. Sounds like he would be pretty torn up about that
so he Hated the Roman Empire so much he loved it
honestly youtuber should listen to themselves talk first
You shouldn't have to explain why someone with badulic morality and intelligence would hate the Roman empire
Empires emerge and dissolve for a reason… Everything has reasons.
But isn't England herself some sort of an "empire", if you go back long enough in time? Isn't it a bloody unification of many "locals"?