Mark Zuckerberg Weighs in on Viral Roman Empire Obsession, Jokes About Kids’ Names

• Mark Zuckerberg joked about his obsession with the Roman Empire in response to a viral meme. 
• The Facebook founder honeymooned in Rome and named two of his daughters after Roman emperors.
• His rival Elon Musk is also a fan, and suggested the cage fight between the two CEOs take place in the Colosseum.

Mark Zuckerberg has joked that he is “not sure” how often he thinks about the Roman Empire, despite naming his daughters after Roman emperors.

“Not sure if I think about the Roman Empire too much,” the Meta CEO posted on Threads. “I wonder what my daughters Maxima, August and Aurelia think.”

The joke was an apparent reference to a recent internet meme about the apparent obsession men have with ancient Rome.

The Facebook founder does in fact have a long-standing interest in the Roman Empire. His eldest daughter Maxima’s name is a play on the Latin name Maximus, while August and Aurelia are references to the Roman emperors Augustus and Marcus Aurelius.

Zuckerberg has talked at length about his fascination for Augustus, the first Roman emperor who was a ruthless and power-hungry leader famous for crushing his rivals and eroding democracy.

In a profile for the New Yorker, Zuckerberg praised Augustus for delivering 200 years of world peace, even if it required a “harsh approach” that included brutal repression and violence. He also joked that the Roman emperor overshadowed his honeymoon trip to Rome.

“My wife was making fun of me, saying she thought there were three people on the honeymoon: me, her, and Augustus,” he told the New Yorker. “All the photos were different sculptures of Augustus.”

Zuckerberg is not the only tech CEO unable to stop thinking about the Roman empire. His rival and would-be cage match opponent Elon Musk also said he thought about the collapsed ancient civilisation “every day” in a post on X.

Musk even suggested the Colosseum as a possible location for the cage match between the two CEOs, although that fight now seems unlikely to happen after Zuckerberg claimed the Tesla boss was “not serious” about the showdown.