Recently, the term “Roman Empire” has become much more complex than the actual Roman Empire. It started because it was discovered that apparently, men think about the Romans and their effect in the modern world more than one would think is average. Through TikTok, women started asking men how many times a day they thought about this, and many were surprised with the answers. After this revelation came to be, many started asking themselves what their Roman Empires were. In a modern context, a “Roman Empire” is something — a concept, idea, moment, media scene, etc — a person thinks about on a regular basis, even daily in some cases. Some popular examples, for the girls at least, are:
- Jess Mariano’s ICONIC “Why did you drop out of Yale?” monologue in Gilmore Girls
- Mr. Darcy’s hand flex in Pride and Prejudice
- Tom Holland’s rendition of Rihanna’s Umbrella in Lip Sync Battle
- Greek Mythology in general
Even though I do consider these to be my mainstream Roman Empires, I wanted to go in-depth about my more personal ones, or at least the ones you don’t see on social media but a lot of us probably think about.
people from school
This isn’t my biggest one, but I often find myself wondering what people I went to school with are up to. I moved around a lot, so there’s a large amount of people I consider classmates from school, and I don’t necessarily follow them all on socials. Those that I do follow, I have an idea of what they’re doing or where they go to college, but I’m very curious how their life has turned out so far, and even more so, I wonder if they remember me.
My mom’s music
As I talked about in a previous article, the music my mom grew up with has had a huge influence on me as a person and my taste in music. What I now listen to and think of as vintage music, my mom used to jam out to thinking it was on-trend. So, my Roman Empire is: will my kids think of my music as vintage, will they like it as much as I do, and will it have such an impact on them as my mom’s did on me? Will they make fun of how I dance the same way I do with my mom? Or will this music style that’s trending right now transcend generational barriers and continue to be popular some years into the future? This thought pops into my head at least 80% of the time I listen to music released before 1995, and even more so when I see myself singing these songs in the car with my mom.
have I met my person yet?
I’ve always believed we have many soulmates in this life. They all fulfill different purposes and come into our lives in the right moment, whether we see that as good or bad. One of my very clear soulmates (it’s been clear for 12 years) is my best friend. We have gone through way too many crazy experiences together and I can’t imagine my life without her. I also consider my immediate family to be my soulmates because of how well they know me, and well, they’re my family. However, I haven’t found my romantic soulmate yet; at least, I don’t think I have. I often find myself thinking about whether or not I have met this person yet. We may have already met but our paths haven’t crossed that way yet, or maybe we’ll meet tomorrow and the spark will be immediate. I don’t know and have no way of knowing when the encounter will come, but I can’t stop the intrigue from filling my body and my mind from wandering off to think if that person is in my life already or not.
Friends from college
After a year and a half into my college experience, I can confidently say I have met the group of people that will continue to be in my life as my “friends from college”. Maybe in the future, they will become something more (bridesmaids and groomsmen, godparents, business partners, etc.). But for now, I’m happy to call them my friends from college. They’re part of the stories I know I’ll be talking about for many years to come, and with them, I’ve grown in ways I never imagined I could. I guess that the Roman Empire that relates to this is: will they only live in my memory as my friends from college who I rarely see? Or will these friendships transcend the streets of College Station and continue to grow into the strong connections we are forming now? Will we become strangers once we walk the stage in Reed Arena? Or will that long-awaited strut be the beginning of a wonderful new chapter of friendship and growth with some of the greatest people I know?
I guess that the answer for these questions is that only time will tell. I can’t look into the future to manipulate the outcome, but I can only hope that the answers not only come soon but that they favor me and teach me more about myself than the questions already have.