Ryan Reynolds jokes that he, like many men, has the Roman Empire on his mind

The chariot races and gladiator fights of the Roman Empire haven’t, apparently, been totally lost to the ages.

A new TikTok trend is pulling back the curtains shrouding the minds of boyfriends, husbands and partners to reveal that many hold a burning fire for ancient Rome — including celebrities like Ryan Reynolds.

The 46-year-old actor, who is an expert at capitalizing on the latest social media trend, joined in on the fun by posting a funny pic to his Instagram story Sept. 23.

He uploaded a selfie of him staring pensively into the camera.

"Just' thinking' 'bout the Roman Empire," he captioned the snap.

For the past few weeks, posts with the hashtag #romanempire have pulled in millions of views across multiple social media platforms as women ask the men in their lives just how often they think about the Roman Empire.

So how did men realize that many of them are frequently pondering the rise and fall of the powerful civilization? It seems to have all started with a simple question.

How did the Roman Empire TikTok trend start?

According to The Washington Post, the beginning of the #RomanEmpire TikTok trend can be traced back to Artur Hulu, a Roman re-enactor who goes by the name "Gaius Flavius" on social media.

On Aug. 19, Hulu posed a question on Instagram: "How often do you think about the Ancient Rome?"

"Ladies, many of you do not (realize) how often men think about the Roman Empire," he wrote. "Ask you husband/ boyfriend/ father/ brother — you will be surprised by their answers!"

Why did the Roman Empire trend go viral?

Hulu's theory about the disparity between men and women's interest in the Roman Empire turned out to be correct. Hundreds of Instagram users responded to his prompt, with one person commenting that their boyfriend launched into a 15-minute explanation about the topic.

The debate then made its way to TikTok.

“How many times, like a week, or just how many times in general, do you think about the Roman Empire?” Ashley Lance —@idkhowyoufoundme — asks her boyfriend at the beginning of a post that has now gained over 11 million views.

Lance’s partner appears amused initially before he genuinely pauses to consider this.

He looks up and shakes his head. “What about the Roman Empire?”

(To be fair, the period is expansive.)

“Just anything about it,” Lance encourages.

“Not a lot. Why?”

“When was the last time you thought about it?” Lance prods.

After thinking it over, her boyfriend replies, “Maybe a week or two ago.”

When she laughs, he reminds her that “the Roman Empire was a very big part of history.”

Not long after posting the video to her page on Sept. 13, women on TikTok set out to confront their own partners.

“Elaborate,” former Nickelodeon actor Kira Kosarin demands in a post shared to the platform.

His initial reply was, “Three times a day.”

“I guess technically, like every day,” the boyfriend of user Georgia Ferraris (@georgiaferraris_) shrugs in a separate post. “If you speak English, you’re thinking about the Roman Empire,” he adds matter of fact.

At the end of the video, Ferraris drops the mic to reveal the background of her boyfriend’s phone: a picture of the painting “Oath of the Horatii,” which depicts a scene from Roman legend.

A user who goes by @delara.esq on TikTok brought forth a theory after polling several of her male friends.

“I’ll say it was a mixed bag,” Delara explains. “At least half said daily, which to me was shocking, because who’s thinking about the Roman Empire daily? But then the other half kind of nonchalantly, they’re like, ‘You know, I’m working on my own empire or whatever.’”

As for the men who said that they think about the Roman Empire daily, Delara theorizes that the period comes to mind while thinking of their lives in terms of direction.

“They’re really thinking about it in terms of love, war, strategy, betrayal, like, themes like that, that could be present in our day-to-day lives,” she explained.

Why do men think about the Roman Empire?

Hulu, who is thought to have first posed the viral question, told The Washington Post he is involved in a Roman reenactment society with 16 men and just two women.

“I can’t remember a day when I didn’t think about the Roman Empire. … It just fascinates me how different but also how similar the Roman Empire is to our world today,” he shared.

TODAY's own co-hosts weighed in with their thoughts.

Carson Daly revealed during PopStart on Sept. 15 that he, too, thinks about the Roman Empire very often.

“I do, every day,” Carson said to the shock of his co-hosts. “First of all, the movie ‘Gladiator’ is in every guy’s top five favorite movies. Joe Rogan’s podcast is wildly popular, and there’s this trend to have this modern understanding of ancient philosophies like stoicism, cold plunging is a big thing right now, keto. Looking for guidance and self-improvement and it all harkens back to Marcus Aurelius. This is the Roman Empire.”

Carson wasn't the only TODAY host who revealed that the Roman Empire is on their mind. Craig Melvin admitted sometimes he sees something that triggers him to think about the Roman Empire, but said it seems like some men are just thinking about it on their own.

"I think it’s become part of the new young man psyche," Carson replied.

However, TODAY’s Al Roker had a very different response: "I haven’t thought about it since I took Latin."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com