Re: (ReacTor) Five Thinly Veiled Versions of Rome in SF

James Nicoll wrote:

Five Thinly Veiled Versions of Rome in SF
 For some science fiction authors, all roads really do lead to Rome.
 https://reactormag.com/five-thinly-veiled-versions-of-rome-in-sf/
 

Not just in science fiction.  Gondor and Arnor are clearly drawn in large part from the Eastern and Western Roman Empire.
And Harry Turtledove wrote at least two Byzantine-inspired series that I can think of.
I can't at the moment think of where Asimov used Thucydides.  Perhaps he just needed him for the rhyme.
Then there's the explicit use of Rome in DeCamp's "Lest Darkness Fall". It was amusing to read Gibbon and think of these Goths as pictured in DeCamp's novel.   Entirely not to my surprise, LSDC knew his stuff.
It is remarkable how many of these feature late Rome, and not the Rome of the Republic.
Well, Alan Yates did write an sf novel "Coriolanus, the Chariot", but IIRC that had nothing to do with Rome.
William Hyde