The Many Ways That Rome Never Fell and Lives On Today

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 5 June 2025

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Rome’s Western Empire may have fallen 1,600 years ago, but its cultural impact has a radioactive half-life that would make xenon jealous. Over a billion people speak Latin (or at least a Latin-derived language). Governments around the world self-consciously copy Roman buildings and create governments that copy the imperial senate. Every self-aggrandizing leader has compared himself to Caesar, including those with a strong claim (Charlemagne and Napoleon) and those with a weaker one (Idi Amin and Muammer Gaddafi). But what if the Roman Empire never truly fell?

This is the perspective of today’s guest, Aldo Cazzullo, author of “The Neverending Empire: The Infinite Impact of Ancient Rome. Rome’s influence is not just a relic of history—it’s the foundation of the modern West and nowhere is that more evident than in the United States.

While many political empires throughout history have presented themselves as the true heirs of Rome, Cazzullo contends that it’s the US, that most resembles the Roman Empire. It’s an angle with which to view America’s story/where it’s heading and most importantly, what we can learn to ensure that we can look forward to another 3000 years.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Sky here with another episode of the History and Plug podcast.
0:07.0	It's been over 1,600 years, and the West still hasn't gotten over the fall of the Roman Empire.
0:13.0	A really popular subgenre of science fiction, will send time travelers to the past in order to prevent its fault.
0:18.0	One recent examples, S.M. Sterling's to turn the tide, where a group of historians go back to the time of Marcus Aurelius, prevent the Antonine plague,
0:25.1	and help him win the wars against the Germanic barbarians. But in one sense, the Roman Empire
0:30.0	never really did fall. Today, over a billion people speak Latin, although it's a heavily
0:34.9	evolved version of Latin that can be subdivided into Spanish,
0:38.0	Portuguese, French, and other Roman languages.
0:40.3	Neoclassical artwork adorns the capitals of Western countries around the world, including
0:44.8	the United States, and Rome's political system is deeply embedded in Western government.
0:49.3	The Republic, the Electoral College, perhaps the most long-lasting institution to emerge
0:53.3	from Rome is Christianity,
0:54.8	where some branches, like Catholicism, are still influenced by Rome's hierarchy.
0:58.8	In today's episode, I'm speaking to Aldo Czullo, a journalist and historian who talks about
1:02.9	all the ways in which Rome is still alive today, including the notions of citizenship,
1:08.2	how immigrants can be absorbed into a host culture, architecture, politics,
1:11.8	language, and all the other ways that even though Rome has been gone for 1600 years, it's still
1:16.3	alive today. Hope you enjoyed this discussion.
1:21.3	And one more thing before we get started with this episode, a quick break for a word from our sponsors.
1:29.9	There's been any different dates suggested for the fall of the Roman Empire, and you argue
1:35.9	in your book that these proposed dates are incorrect, but the ones that I've come across
1:40.9	are typically 476.
	...

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