Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: asterix, Roman Empire

What To Give The Man Who Thinks About The Roman Empire A Lot

On TikTok, the observation that men think about the Roman Empire a lot, has proven a source of fascination and hilarity for women who don't.

Published Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:57:06 -0500

by Rich Johnston

Last updated Fri, 15 Sep 2023 15:37:30 -0500

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On TikTok, the observation that men think about the Roman Empire a lot, has proven a source of fascination and hilarity for women who don't. And had no idea that every man in their life did. And, yes, I'll put my hand up, but then I do cycle through London a lot, a city that was founded by Romans and bits of that still stick up. There's a lot of Latin still around. Oh, and I read Asterix a lot as a kid, and still see much of world history through the eyes of an isolated village of ancient Gauls holding out against the French-invading Roman Empire in 57 BC.

I am also apt to tap my head rapidly in the manner of Obelix, saying "these Romans are crazy" as a standard response to being aggravated by someone else's actions (who aren't in the room).

Asterix is the most popular comic book in the world, though it never really cracked America. Created in the sixties by Albert Uderzo and René Goscinny, the new Asterix volume out this later year , the fortieth of the main Asterix book, is expected to sell between five million copies Asterix And The White Iris, to be published on the 26th of October 2023. The new book will parody the arrival of new age thinking from Rome, with such foreign concepts as mindfulness and veganism. The White Iris is the name of a new school of thought, coming from Rome, which advocates benevolence, healthy living, and individual development. Among his precepts: "To light up the forest, the flowering of a single iris is enough." Written by Fabero, a new writer to the franchise, this is his first Asterix book. The volumes continue to be drawn by Didier Conrad.

The Roman emperor Julius Caesar has the idea of instilling this state of mind in his demoralized troops, but what no one has foreseen is that this philosophy, which recommends eating less wild boar, will enter the Gaulish village. Dividing Asterix's village into pro and anti-White Iris, reflecting current trends regarding modern culture wars and populist politics, but also the cultural battles of the sixties and seventies. No doubt which side Obelix will be on when it comes to wild boar eating, of course, but what about Asterix? Could the firm friends be divided again? And naturally, the chief's wife, Impedimenta is very much open to the new movement.

Fabero is quoted as saying, "I am not too New Age but the album does not want to be critical of all such movements. As long as personal development has positive effects, why not? Me, I don't use it too much but, if it works on some people, I don't draw generalities. I want to treat this contemporary phenomenon as Albert Uderzo and René Goscinny did at the time. For example, in Obélix & Company, an album that I really like, they talked about capitalism and the concentration of companies, with humour," he adds.

Obélix & Company may also be my favourite Asterix volume, as it deals with the Roman Empire trying to use the appeal of capitalism to destroy and weaken the Gauls from within. But all's well that ends well. And Asterix and Obelix definitely think about the Roman Empire every day, with Obelix allowed to fight them all by himself as a birthday treat…

Anyway, if you have a man in your life who has admitted to thinking about the Roman Empire most days, buy him a lot of Asterix books. That is, of course, unless he already has them.

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