I know this is a joke/meme, but I sincerely think of the Roman Empire a surprising amount of times. I find myself obsessing over how Roman citizens were living just as complex lives as we are today, or about Marcus Aurelius’ life and philosophy, or about how the Republic fell and became a totalitarian state.
I joked about my wife competing for a job with another candidate by having a gladitorial match. She was like, “Roman Empire again, huh?” and I was like “… fuck.”