• zifnab25 [he/him, any]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Sure. Protestant Work Ethic Individualism wasn't really a thing. But the idea of the Roman Tribe, particularly in the later era, was far more about one's immediate family than one's national allegiance or ethnicity. The ideas of patriarchy and filial loyalty, self-aggrandizement and demagoguery, and individual stoic virtue were well established.

    You didn't have the same kind of western colonial frontiersman icons. But you definitely had the core idea of the ubermensch - the Herculean/Spartan champion, the Marcus Aurelius styled philosopher stoic, and the Marcus Licinius Crassus proto-libertarian business tyrant - already operating within the empire. These icons are routinely invoked by modern-day individualist ideologues. So I imagine an American in Julius Caeser's Court would be more relatable than you give him credit.