Do Italians think they are descendats of the Romans?

[Rhye]

I'm 100% italian, and I consider Italia as the descendant nation of Rome, more than people, which discends from many invasors.

 

[Rhye]

Just remember, Sicilians don't, and Sicilians do not consider themselves Italians...

Sicilians consider themselves Italians.

It's nothern people who consider people from Sicily "Africans" and people from Neaples "Albanians".
It's very common to see in the northern stadiums a banner which says "Welcome to Italy" when there's a football match with a southern city.

 

[Marla_Singer]

The fall of Rome was in 476 AD right ?

So let's count four generations for each century, and 15 centuries. That makes about 60 generations.

That makes 2^60 ancestors living at that time for each one of us right ?
2^60 = 1 152 921 504 606 850 000 ancestors
That makes 1 billion of billion ancestors.

According to most studies, they were about 200 million people living on earth in 500 AD.

As a result, we can fairly say that 99% of people living on earth are not only descendant of the Romans, but they are also descendant of all the Romans who actually had descendants.

 

[Chairman Meow]

That makes 2^60 ancestors living at that time for each one of us right ?
2^60 = 1 152 921 504 606 850 000 ancestors
That makes 1 billion of billion ancestors.

The answer to that is, well, sometimes family trees don't branch....

 

[bigmeat]

ha, i knew i was related to costantine, if only he alive today to see what his grandson had accomplished (tears)

 

[Marla_Singer]

The answer to that is, well, sometimes family trees don't branch....

Of course, that answer is obvious. The only thing I was saying is that after 1,500 years and 60 generations, we can decently consider all the world population of that time were made of our ancestors of all.

 

[Milan's Warrior]

I am Italian. As a broad generalization, I'd say Italians consider themselves the heirs of Rome.
Of course the genetic pool is much more diverse because of both the population that lived there before the Rise of Rome and the many invasions after the Fall of Rome.

 

[MCdread]

The fall of Rome was in 476 AD right ?

So let's count four generations for each century, and 15 centuries. That makes about 60 generations.

That makes 2^60 ancestors living at that time for each one of us right ?
2^60 = 1 152 921 504 606 850 000 ancestors
That makes 1 billion of billion ancestors.

According to most studies, they were about 200 million people living on earth in 500 AD.

As a result, we can fairly say that 99% of people living on earth are not only descendant of the Romans, but they are also descendant of all the Romans who actually had descendants.

I'm not sure about 99% of the whole world, but your point is certainly correct, and I spoke about it earlier in the thread too. But for european, mediterranean and middle east population it is certainly true. There is in fact a very interesting mathematicsl study published recently that concluded that all present day europeans and descendants are all related to each other and the most recent common ancestor lived only 1000 years ago. Therefor, everyone of us descends from Charlemagne and any other person that lived before and left descendancy, including the romans.

 

[Milan's Warrior]

I'm not sure about 99% of the whole world, but your point is certainly correct, and I spoke about it earlier in the thread too. But for european, mediterranean and middle east population it is certainly true. There is in fact a very interesting mathematicsl study published recently that concluded that all present day europeans and descendants are all related to each other and the most recent common ancestor lived only 1000 years ago. Therefor, everyone of us descends from Charlemagne and any other person that lived before and left descendancy, including the romans.

Can't possibly be. I refuse to have common ancestors with Bush or the Pope

 

[Marla_Singer]

I'm not sure about 99% of the whole world, but your point is certainly correct, and I spoke about it earlier in the thread too. But for european, mediterranean and middle east population it is certainly true. There is in fact a very interesting mathematicsl study published recently that concluded that all present day europeans and descendants are all related to each other and the most recent common ancestor lived only 1000 years ago. Therefor, everyone of us descends from Charlemagne and any other person that lived before and left descendancy, including the romans.

As you have said, every single one who has left a descendancy is our ancestor. Imagine that in 50 A.D a Roman has let descendancy in Persia, and few centuries after, a single of his Persian descendants has let descendancy in India. And few centuries after, one single of his Indian descendants have let an descendancy in China.

All this could happen before 1,000 AD right ? Well as a result, all Chinese people of today have Roman ancestors.

99% is really not such a wacko figure I think.


EDIT : And if it wasn't through India, it was then through the silk road.

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

We are all descendant of the Romans... If there are people in this world that have not a single ancestor who lived in the Ancient Rome, than it's really really surprizing... Maybe few aborigenese in Australia.

And New Guinea

But Marla here is right. As much as there are differences within people, to assume that there are any concrete and absolute differences (or similarities) ignores the amount of time that humans have been interacting.

Anyways, it doesn't matter too much to me who peoples' descendants are, as people are just people, and they live where they live.

 

[HamaticBabylon]

Are the Iraqis descends of the Babylonians...can they write and speak Babylonian.