Editing Roman Empire (section)

== Roman Empire Analogs in Fantasy ==
To save time, let's just say the Roman Empire is one of the most heavily copied Cultures in fiction, what with it being precisely what any given European would think of upon hearing the words ancient empire" (not to mention much of it more or less remaining in use today, like its calendar, alphabet, military structure...it's not for nothing the Founding Fathers of the U.S.A. decided the Senate would be a part of the federal government). A certainly-incomplete list of fantastical models from them follows:  

*[[Imperium of Man]] - While the Imperium also draws inspirations from other political systems and cultures, like Medieval Europe and the British Empire, its aesthetics and government are strongly based around Roman designs.
**[[Ultramar]] - Ultramar, [[Roboute Guilliman]]'s home system, is heavily based around a Greek-Roman hybrid empire. With Guilliman's return he may or may not be setting himself up as a Roman style dictator: one who holds absolute power so that he can deal with a crisis. Given the [[Grimdark|fun times]] he's living in this can last quite a while.
*[[The_Empire_(Warhammer_Fantasy)|The Empire]] The human Empire of Warhammer Fantasy is an amalgamation of the14th-15th century Holy Roman Empire and Rome proper.
*Codex Alera - Romans end up in a fantasy world and learn how to train spirit Pokémon. That may sound odd but that's actually the literal origin of how the books were written in fact, the author Jim Butcher, was challenged to write a book using two "lame" ideas, the idea in question were "lost Rome legion" and "Pokémon", then went one further by throwing in the Zerg.
*The Galactic Empire of [[Star Wars]] fame, which also evolved from a Republic which gave one of its leaders supreme power. More of a combination of Rome and Nazi Germany than anything.
*The [[Star League]] from [[BattleTech]] is a close sci-fi equivalent. Though, like the Empire in Warhammer Fantasy, the feudalism and myriad of fractious member-states could make it a closer analog to the Holy Roman Empire instead. Regardless, the Star League was considered a Golden Age compared to the [[Succession Wars|three century train wreck]] that came after it. That and none of the Great Houses or the Clans denied being tempted to reform it in their own image.
*[[Pathfinder]]'s Taldor is an empire that was once the center of human civilization but has been decaying and losing territory for centuries. Their founder, Taldarius, is unmistakably Roman looking. Like Rome, their breakaways (Andoran and Cheliax) are waxing while Taldor is waning.
*The Tevinter Imperium from [[Bioware|Dragon Age]] is one of the more unsuble examples out there, being basically a copy-pasted fantasy version of Late Byzantine Empire, only with magical racism and a few iconic characteristics of the Roman Empire added in for good mesure, like the widespread use of slavery (slaves, though they did exist, were quite rare in Byzantine lands), and decadent elites more interested in backstabbing each other than safeguarding the Empire.
*The Mal’Zeelan Empire from the Chronicles of an Imperial Legionary Officer book series is a continuation of the Roman Empire after the Legio IX Hispana got themselves transported to a different world (and after that went through another world gate where they established the empire itself) with dwarves, elves, and all your other generic fantasy races. 
[[Category:History]]