PODCAST: explore Ancient Rome’s influences within the Warhammer (GamesWorkshop) 40k Universe and why our Civil Rights are important in Fighting the Coalescence of Feudal Systems that entrenchment often bring of which results in not allowing the Black Sheep (my power animal is a quilled black sheep) enough rope and a shovel.. Right, something out there taught them to be Scruffy Sheep Headers (cough WWJD! lol)
https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/43584610-0d85-4def-ba4c-6c6a09defb4b
The depiction of life in Warhammer 40k, as illustrated by the experiences of Scribe Adept Matias Vaughn, shares several striking similarities with the depiction of life for those without status in Ancient Rome. Both sources portray worlds where the individual is largely insignificant in the face of vast, indifferent, and often cruel systems.
Here are some key parallels:
- Lack of Individual Importance and Status:
- Ancient Rome: For those without status (patrician, equestrian, plebeian, freed, or slave), an individual was “not much more than a number in this teeming crowd”. They were seen as “a background figure” or “someone to fetch water, sweep floors, or shift crates”. Their worth was not in their muscle or wit, but in their ascribed place.
- Warhammer 40k: Matias Vaughn, a scribe adept, processes the deaths of billions, which are reduced to “a line item in a morning’s work”. He authorizes the deaths of billions of souls, who are abstract “numbers”. His own breakdown is cataloged and cross-referenced with “vast databases of similar cases,” as part of a larger, systemic pattern. Even his unique psychological adaptation is studied for “potential efficiency gains” rather than his personal well-being.
- Pervasive Danger and Lack of Protection:
- Ancient Rome: Without status, Rome was “narrower, louder, and infinitely more dangerous”. The law did not protect the poor; it “saw you very clearly and decided you weren’t worth protecting”. A rich man could have you beaten without consequence, and your word would carry no weight. The streets at night were filled with “shadows,” “stray dogs,” “rats,” and “gangs,” where one could “disappear into the shadows for good”.
- Warhammer 40k: The Imperium of Man is a place where “survival is anything but certain”. For Matias Vaughn, the job itself is a “hazard,” as the “psychic death scream” of dying worlds accumulates in the minds of those who process them, leading to mental breakdown. Those who succumb are taken to a “mental hygiene division” for “reconditioning,” from which “no one… ever returns to their previous position”. The facility itself is described as existing in a different, dangerous kind of space, with walls that writhe and strange, incomprehensible sounds.
- Oppressive Bureaucracy and Systemic Indifference:
- Ancient Rome: The law was a “wall tall and smooth impossible to climb” for the poor. Justice “leaned heavily toward the powerful”. The system ensured that the poor “wouldn’t bite the hand that fed you” through patronage, a “quiet form of control”. Even disappearing due to debt or forced labor was an “inconvenience to others at most,” not a scandal.
- Warhammer 40k: The Administratum is a massive bureaucracy where “men and women process the death of worlds with the same methodical precision that their colleagues… use to catalog grain shipments”. The work “must continue” for the Imperium’s protection, regardless of the individual’s suffering. Personnel who break down are simply “replaced with fresh recruits” or their minds are “wiped clean or worse”. The system is designed to “maximize efficiency and minimize psychological resistance”.
- Loss of Humanity and Identity:
- Ancient Rome: Your clothing “did the talking long before you opened your mouth,” signaling your lack of importance and making it impossible to blend in. Daily life was a “grind of navigating a world that made sure you never forgot your place”.
- Warhammer 40k: Matias Vaughn’s personal identity is systematically “dissected and cataloged like specimens”. His “capacity for empathy,” “ability to see individual faces in statistical populations,” and “tendency to question the necessity of the work” are identified as “defective” and “removed”. The goal of reconditioning is to create “perfect servants of the imperium” who are “incapable of the psychological dysfunction that plagues normal human consciousness,” essentially stripping them of their humanity. The individual who emerges “will share his name and his physical appearance but everything that makes matias vaughn human will have been excised with surgical precision”.
- Harsh Daily Life and Struggle for Survival:
- Ancient Rome: Life for the poor was “a patchwork of hardship and noise”. It involved queuing for hours for communal, often unclean water and latrines. Work was grueling, often dangerous, and lacked safety nets; an accident could mean starvation. Meals were a “question mark,” centered on “coarse bread” and “porridge pulse,” with meat being a rare luxury.
- Warhammer 40k: Matias Vaughn’s work shifts begin at 0400 hours, involve mechanical repetition, and his “nutritional paste” is colored to resemble food but “cannot mask the underlying taste of synthetic proteins”. Sleep offers no relief, as his dreams are haunted by “numbers” and “worlds burning”. The environment is oppressive, with “flickering illuminators” and air that “tastes of recycled breath and the bitter tang of fear sweat”.
In essence, both narratives emphasize that without status or protection, life is a constant, brutal struggle against overwhelming forces that view individuals as expendable cogs in a larger machine. The grandeur and apparent order of both Rome and the Imperium are built on the unseen suffering and dehumanization of countless individuals.