In most representations in movies, in many series of the roman empire, the actors speak the queen's latin. The romans are represented with british actors speaking with a very proper british accents,. And they do so like it's very intentional and they're very homogeneous. This is my joke, right? They don't speak the queen’s english. They speak qeens latin. I think that this has come to influence the way that the public imagines rome and what we think about when we think of the romans. A skepticism is always in order'
Historian Bret Devereaux of the University of North Carolina talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about our understanding of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Devereaux highlights the gap between the reality of Greece and Rome and how they're portrayed in popular culture. The conversation focuses on the diversity of ancient Rome and the military prowess of Sparta.