Rome and the Illusion of Eternity

ROME — THE EMPIRE THAT BELIEVED IT WAS ETERNAL They tell you Rome fell.

But that is only the last thing that happened. This story begins when Rome believed

it could not end. Stone gleams beneath an endless sun. Marble rises in perfect lines,

as if the earth itself has been corrected. Roads stretch outward—straight, unforgiving—binding

distant lands into a single idea. Here, power has a shape. It wears armor.

It speaks law. It moves in formation. Rome does not ask the world what it wants.

Rome assumes the world will adjust. And for a time, it does. Legions march as

one body. Shields lock. Boots strike earth in perfect rhythm. Conquest is no longer