--- description: Men aren't the only ones with random obsessions. Women think about topics ranging from Taylor Swift to murder, according to a response to the viral TikTok trend. title: Men Think About the Roman Empire All the Time. Here’s What Women Say They Think About image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt883aa329bc570ca4/698a408422fb85c3efe2f120/women-roman-empire-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [internet culture](/tag/internet-culture/) ## internet culture Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Men Think About the Roman Empire All the Time. Here’s What Women Say They Think About ## Video: New Exhibition Shows the Many Faces of Julius Caesar [Watch (HLS stream): New Exhibition Shows the Many Faces of Julius Caesar](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TFzddaFD.m3u8) (2:02)  _Published 2023-09-18. Visitors can experience Caesar through a collection of almost 150 historical objects, each telling an exciting story of his rise to the top as a populist dictator and his fall, stabbed repeatedly by members of the Roman Senate. It’s all on show at the H'ART Museum in Amsterdam. Director Annabelle Birnie says visitors here will get to know every aspect of Caesar's life._  by [Moises Mendez](/author/moises-mendez-ii/)  ## Moises Mendez Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 18, 2023 4:02 PM CUT  Getty Images (4); Focus Features/Everett Collection  by [Moises Mendez](/author/moises-mendez-ii/)  ## Moises Mendez Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 18, 2023 4:02 PM CUT Men broke the internet’s collective brain last week when viral videos revealed that many of them think about the [Roman Empire more frequently than many of us could have imagined](https://time.com/6314544/tiktok-roman-empire-trend/ "undefined"). The trend became popular not only because of women's incredulous responses to their straight-faced answers but because it felt like a secret, hiding in plain sight, had suddenly been unearthed for all to analyze. Shortly after this revelation on TikTok, women started sharing their version of the trend in viral videos across the app. ### More From TIME Participants in the response to the trend most commonly stitch a video from a woman named Emmy ([@sophisticatedspreads](https://www.tiktok.com/@sophisticatedspreads/video/7278489412692905258 "undefined")). In her video, she asks the audience, “But what I want to know is what is the female version of the Roman Empire? What is something random that we think about on a very regular basis that is female-specific?” For this trend, however, there is not just one topic that TikTok users can agree on, but a wide-ranging smorgasbord that ranges from murder to other historical eras to [Fleetwood Mac’s](https://time.com/5896905/skateboarder-fleetwood-mac/ "undefined") 1997 live performance of “Silver Springs,” in which Stevie Nicks sings into Lindsey Buckingham’s soul. Historical moments were popular among the women taking part in the trend. One user posted a video saying that women think about one or a combination of four things: [The Six Wives of Henry VIII (or Tudor history in general)](https://time.com/collection/time100-next-2022/6213741/lucy-moss-and-toby-marlow/ "undefined"), the Titanic (not the movie but the unsinkable ship that sunk), the Romanovs, and Greek mythology. The comments were filled with users agreeing. “I think about the Titanic almost daily,” one person wrote. Another person said, “I think about the Romanovs every week easily.” Classic literature (and film adaptations thereof) also appeared as someone made a reference to the _Pride & Prejudice_ hand-flex scene featuring the hand acting of [Matthew Macfadyen](https://time.com/6283317/matthew-macfadyen-tom-wambsgans-succession-finale/ "undefined"), a.k.a. [Tom Wambsgams](https://time.com/6264658/succession-tom-wambsgans-season-4/ "undefined"). This scene from the 2005 movie was wildly popular on Tumblr, so it’s not a surprise that it has made its way over to TikTok. Music performances were another popular category. In addition to the aforementioned Fleetwood Mac performance, Tom Holland dancing to Rihanna’s “Umbrella” on _Lip Sync Battle_ was a response that was unanimously agreed upon. A different user made a video saying [she thinks about Taylor Swift](https://time.com/6307420/taylor-swift-eras-tour-money-economy/ "undefined")—and getting kidnapped. In this vein, some of the videos featured women saying they thought about more serious topics like murder, though many were made with a tone of dark humor. One person made a video showing her friends’ responses to the prompt, “How often do you think about murder per week?” Replies included, “I think maybe 5-7 times a week, depending on what I’m doing” or fairly frequently because “I listen to a lot of murder podcasts.” One simply replied:“Often.” In the comments section, someone aptly pointed out that the thought is “about people being murdered and not murdering.” Past friendships that fell out were also another frequent topic. There are multiple videos of people saying they think about their ex-best friend. Some women also say that they think about the Roman Empire a lot, too, and offer their own reasons. “When they would do a good job at something, they would get little leaf hats,” one TikToker said. “They wore special dresses.” Turns out, ancient civilizations have something for everyone. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6315328/roman-empire-tiktok-trend-women-response/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6315328/roman-empire-tiktok-trend-women-response/"},"headline":"Men Think About the Roman Empire All the Time. Here’s What Women Say They Think About","datePublished":"2023-09-18T16:02:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T16:24:45.999Z","description":"Men aren't the only ones with random obsessions. 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