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"What Have Romans Done?"

Comments invoke the Monty Python 'Life of Brian' quote 'What have the Romans ever done for us?' to jokingly argue that ancient Romans had already pioneered or experienced the modern innovation, issue, or idea discussed in the parent post.

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Keywords

e.g HN ycombinator.com wikipedia.org blog.oup youtube.com google.com acoup.blog EDIT BC romans roman rome ancient roman empire settlements slaves empire maintained floors

Sample Comments

cookieswumchorr • Jan 4, 2023 • View on HN

The Romans knew what they were doing :)

am44jnsf • May 3, 2023 • View on HN

what have the Romans ever done for us?

wavefunction • Oct 27, 2017 • View on HN

The Romans beat the Americans to the punch by millennia.

willvarfar • Sep 4, 2017 • View on HN

This is the "What have the Romans done for us?!" argument :)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc7HmhrgTuQ

monocasa • Jul 9, 2021 • View on HN

"What have the Romans ever done for us?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc7HmhrgTuQ

irdc • May 23, 2025 • View on HN

The Romans would like to have a word...

dhconnelly • Jan 18, 2023 • View on HN

from a previous HN submission (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32607187): https://acoup.blog/2022/08/26/collections-why-no-roman-indus...

jonfw • Apr 15, 2021 • View on HN

I bet the romans said the same thing

jacquesm • Jan 26, 2021 • View on HN

What have the Romans done for us anyway?

travmatt • Nov 26, 2017 • View on HN

If you think this is a contemporary problem you should read up on Ancient Rome.