Gregory Aldrete

And I tell my students sometimes that if you were to stick a Roman in a time machine and send him to where we live, which I teach in Wisconsin, Green Bay, Wisconsin, that Roman would step out, look around, see all the beer, the brats, and the cheese and say, I know who you guys are. You're barbarians. Barbarians.

And I tell my students sometimes that if you were to stick a Roman in a time machine and send him to where we live, which I teach in Wisconsin, Green Bay, Wisconsin, that Roman would step out, look around, see all the beer, the brats, and the cheese and say, I know who you guys are. You're barbarians. Barbarians.

And I tell my students sometimes that if you were to stick a Roman in a time machine and send him to where we live, which I teach in Wisconsin, Green Bay, Wisconsin, that Roman would step out, look around, see all the beer, the brats, and the cheese and say, I know who you guys are. You're barbarians. Barbarians.

But it's more fundamental because it's different forms of life. Because if you're a farmer, you grow certain crops. And if you're a farmer, you tend to stay in one place. You tend to build cities. If you're following herds of cows around, you don't build cities. Right. You have a totally different lifestyle. So it's diet, but it's more fundamental underlying things about your entire culture.

But it's more fundamental because it's different forms of life. Because if you're a farmer, you grow certain crops. And if you're a farmer, you tend to stay in one place. You tend to build cities. If you're following herds of cows around, you don't build cities. Right. You have a totally different lifestyle. So it's diet, but it's more fundamental underlying things about your entire culture.

But it's more fundamental because it's different forms of life. Because if you're a farmer, you grow certain crops. And if you're a farmer, you tend to stay in one place. You tend to build cities. If you're following herds of cows around, you don't build cities. Right. You have a totally different lifestyle. So it's diet, but it's more fundamental underlying things about your entire culture.

I mean, what's interesting about some of the Roman civil wars, particularly, is that they are world wars of the time. So let's take the war after the assassination of Julius Caesar. We've talked about that one a lot. That was fought – there were battles there fought in Spain, in North Africa, in Greece, in Egypt, in Italy.

I mean, what's interesting about some of the Roman civil wars, particularly, is that they are world wars of the time. So let's take the war after the assassination of Julius Caesar. We've talked about that one a lot. That was fought – there were battles there fought in Spain, in North Africa, in Greece, in Egypt, in Italy.

I mean, what's interesting about some of the Roman civil wars, particularly, is that they are world wars of the time. So let's take the war after the assassination of Julius Caesar. We've talked about that one a lot. That was fought – there were battles there fought in Spain, in North Africa, in Greece, in Egypt, in Italy.

I mean truly across the entire breadth of the Mediterranean involving at least seven or eight different factions of Romans. And that was the world to them. I mean that's very similar in a way to our modern world wars where this was a global conflict at least as they envisioned the world they knew of.

I mean truly across the entire breadth of the Mediterranean involving at least seven or eight different factions of Romans. And that was the world to them. I mean that's very similar in a way to our modern world wars where this was a global conflict at least as they envisioned the world they knew of.

I mean truly across the entire breadth of the Mediterranean involving at least seven or eight different factions of Romans. And that was the world to them. I mean that's very similar in a way to our modern world wars where this was a global conflict at least as they envisioned the world they knew of.

And if we sort of – I don't know, somehow factor for transportation time, I mean I think you can argue that that was a bigger war than World War II. I mean in World War II, if you hopped on a plane, you could get from the US to China in a week or something, right? In little hops. Yeah. I mean, in the ancient world, if you wanted to go from Spain to Egypt, it would take you a month.

And if we sort of – I don't know, somehow factor for transportation time, I mean I think you can argue that that was a bigger war than World War II. I mean in World War II, if you hopped on a plane, you could get from the US to China in a week or something, right? In little hops. Yeah. I mean, in the ancient world, if you wanted to go from Spain to Egypt, it would take you a month.

And if we sort of – I don't know, somehow factor for transportation time, I mean I think you can argue that that was a bigger war than World War II. I mean in World War II, if you hopped on a plane, you could get from the US to China in a week or something, right? In little hops. Yeah. I mean, in the ancient world, if you wanted to go from Spain to Egypt, it would take you a month.

So they were fighting across a larger space-time zone in terms of their technology to move than World War II took place across.

So they were fighting across a larger space-time zone in terms of their technology to move than World War II took place across.

So they were fighting across a larger space-time zone in terms of their technology to move than World War II took place across.

I mean, if we adjust for that sort of factor. So that was a global war, and I think that would be very familiar. Yeah.

I mean, if we adjust for that sort of factor. So that was a global war, and I think that would be very familiar. Yeah.