What Have The Romans... - Monty Python's Life of Brian
Why Hacker News recommends it
Quoted as a joke or analogy whenever someone asks what some institution has ever done for us.
What it is
The classic Life of Brian scene in which revolutionaries list everything the Romans have done for them, from aqueducts to roads.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2017 to 2026.
What Hacker News said
Cites interroboink · 2022-06 · on “Science Is Getting Harder”
> Where do you think the things people today spend all their time politicking on would rank? I realize "politicking" is often used in a derogatory sense, and perhaps that's how you mean it here, but there is a whole lot of plain-old-politics that takes place on a regular basis which has good overlap with those issues you hinted at. Things like: planning and building infrastructure, making sure people do not go hungry or thirsty and that they have places to live, having common laws, etc. A list kind of like "what have the Romans ever done for us?"[1]. Certainly, politics/politicking can also have an amplifying effect on the bad stuff too, as you mention. I suppose my main issue with what you
Cites duxup · 2026-02 · on “Museum Excavation in Cologne Finds Ancient Roman Governor's Palace and Basilica”
The breadth and depth of Roman bureaucracy and government always amazes me. The contrast between the corruption / at times cut throat politics at the top / end of the republic, and at the same time serious efforts to maintain a reasonable and functional government structure that spans massive areas and many cultures and even attempts to reduce corruption at times is very interesting. For many people at one point or another conquered, the question of "what have the Romans done for us" must have been a real topic of discussion. [this video]