Know the Work Rules: One Roman Empire Claim is Sweet, The Other Gets You Reported to HR

Two men walk into an office. Both say the same thing: “I’m the Roman Empire.”

One gets a warm smile and a heart. The other gets reported to HR.

The difference? The flag on their face.

Panel 1 — APPROPRIATE

The Byzantine Empire flag (Palaiologos dynasty — red field with gold cross and four fiery steels). The Byzantines are the Eastern Roman Empire, so this claim is historically accurate. The woman’s reaction: “AWWW, YOU’RE SWEET.” A heart floats nearby.

For over a thousand years after the fall of the West, the Roman Empire continued from Constantinople — with Roman laws, Roman institutions, Roman imperial ideology. When Western Europe finally acknowledged it, they called it “Byzantine” to differentiate, but the people called themselves Romans (Ῥωμαῖοι).

Panel 2 — INAPPROPRIATE

The Turkish flag (red with white crescent and star). The same claim — “I’m the Roman Empire” — but the reaction is pure panic: “HELLO, HUMAN RESOURCES?!”

Yet historically, Mehmed II literally declared himself Kayser-i Rûm (Caesar of Rome) after conquering Constantinople in 1453. The Ottoman claim to Roman succession was taken seriously in the Islamic world and parts of Europe for centuries. But in the modern historical imagination, a Muslim empire claiming the Roman mantle is… uncomfortable.

The Successor Debate

This meme perfectly captures a debate that still rages among history nerds: who gets to call themselves the real Roman Empire?

• The Byzantines? — They were literally the Eastern Roman Empire that never fell until 1453.
• The Holy Roman Empire? — Voltaire said it was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.
• The Ottomans? — They conquered the capital and adopted the title, but by conquest rather than continuity.
• The Russians? — Moscow as the “Third Rome” is a theological and political claim.
• The modern Greek state? — Cultural and linguistic continuity, but no political claim.

Each answer says more about the person giving it than about history. The Palaiologos dynasty’s double-headed eagle and fiery steel symbols (the pyrgoi that supposedly gave rise to the “four B’s” misinterpretation) represent an identity that refused to die.

The joke: Say “I’m the Roman Empire” with the right flag and you’re adorable. Say it with the wrong flag and you need to pack your desk.

Meme by @templarpilled.