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Comment by walrus01 | Hacker News Reader

It is kind of interesting how you can find people who know are not history majors, that know way too much about the Roman empire, but they know dick about the Mughal empire. Or even if you say "Travancore" to them, they have no idea what you're talkin gabout.

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Why can't people have interests? We all like certain activities, programming languages, etc. -- can't we think certain cultures are interesting too?

My (WASP) uncle learned Japanese and moved to Tokyo because of a personal interest in that specific culture. I'm happy for him, glad he had a good experience. Should I now chastise him for not doing that with other cultures?

This `personal interest == bigotry` attitude is a problem.

It is so much easier for a casual fan of history to learn about Rome than most other areas. For an example of this, browse the history audiobook section someplace like Audible.

I remember looking for books on the history of Japan a while ago there. Fifty books about the glorious defeat of Japan in WWII, a few hour long books on their complete history, and a great courses lecture series.

> Or even if you say "Travancore" to them

Why would people learn about some random kingdom which was a vassal under British rule?

He is correct, though, I have never heard of them, and that was only 70 years ago.

> I have never heard of them

My comment answers why you did not hear of them.

I think that (know too much about Roman Empire) applies to me :). For Europe, it was the main "event" that defined the culture, religion and scholarship of the entire continent for 2000 years. Law, medicine and biology still use latin, Christianity continues to be the main religion in Europe. Apart from the north-east, all countries have some Roman history. After Rome, each country becomes more isolated. Of course it's the period/Empire that is the most interesting to read and learn about.

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