Okay, so I was going through the comments of my other thread and I started wondering (again!) what would Equestria be compared to the Roman Empire?

Now, I want this to be a discussion deeper than just their militaries. I want the discussion to cover population, production capabilities, economy, trade, resources available, military, and possible third party relations (who are you allied with and so on). So people will have to flex their creative muscles to discuss this one!

So.... discuss!

P.S. This is my last Discuss thread of the day I swear.

1673382
Equestrians accomplished practically everything they have with the aid of incredibly convenient "magic powers" and six "invincible villain defeating artifacts of instant conflict resolution".

The Romans accomplished everything they did with only their strength, wisdom, courage, cooperation, and determination.

...Take a wild guess as to which I find more impressive.

1673382>>1673407 Depends on what roman age and how good the commander is.
In tech Equestria has an advantage economically but militarily not really. Not one that will last anyway.
They would probably be a match until the Romans took there tech. Then Rome would win.

1673382 I have music class homework and now your making think about something completely different.

Equestria, from what we have seen so far in the show, has no military besides the royal guard. (who is not needed whatsoever). The alicorns are the strongest race seen so far, besides discord, I don't think anything on the planet would try to attack them.

I think almost every nation besides the changelings could possible be allied with Equestria: Four alicorns, the elements of harmony, DISCORD, and a dragon who can become a monster in thirty minutes. If I was a neighboring country: I wouldn't mess with them, I'd want them on my side.

the earth ponies make all the food Equestria needs... earth pony magic dude.

with the population; we know that Equestria has a lot of cities; but every town we've seen is relatively small and somewhat isolated. population is hard to cover. Economically, Equestria seems to be doing fine, but only one city truly seems to have a surplus of bits: Canterlot; judging how the unicorns acted in "sweet and elite" I doubt they are just throwing money to help the poor.

Rome would stand no chance against Equestria: Magic for the win.

1673407 don't forget slavery.

1673407
Equestria?

1673645
...

Yeah, magic is pretty damn impressive if you ask me. Whom would you rather meet? A wise guy? Or a Wizard?

1673807 1673645
Denique... magicae non est realis.

Itaque, Roma iam parta.

——Gloria in victoria.

The socioeconomic status of Equestria is most likely completely instable. Being an aristocratic monarchy, the land is ruled on a basis of birth rather than merit. In a human society, this would probably result in some form of violent revolution, however the ponies seem rather indifferent to the prospect of being ruled like this. This is most likely due to a herd mentality found in a species that is anatomically prey. These factors combine to make it highly possible that Equestria is a lighter form of Communism. Because of this, they have little military output, and have heavily restricted violence instincts, due to conditioning since birth. This is explainable by the ponies heavy reaction to actual violence. Since the ponies are sheltered from violence, they will be woefully unprepared for the wholesale slaughter that is war with Rome. The ponies sheer inability to reciprocate the force of Rome would be their downfall. The Elements of Harmony would be completely outclassed, and unable to function against the Roman military. Fluttershy would never hurt them, and would resist from actually attacking. Beyond military, I return to the society and economy of Equestria. The instability of the economy comes from the dependence upon Earth ponies for agriculture, and pegasi for weather control. Because Equestria's entire economic foundation relies on a service provided by a specific group, there is no safeguard to protect the production of food. Should something happen to the pegasi population centers, say something like ROME, Equestria would be completely unable to feed and maintain itself. The society is unstable because of the aristocrats. Because these aristocrats lack any sense to maintain their estates, they would most likely fail rather quickly in the modern economy of Equestria. The only reason that there seems to be an aristocracy is subsidies from the monarchy to protect the nobility (aka Prince Blueblood, and any other nobility not directly mentioned.) If the monarchy is subsidizing the aristocrats, they are not supporting the populace, which would suffer greatly as their villages burned. Because, you know, Rome and everything. If the monarchy ceases funding the nobility to help the populace, the nobles would fail and leave whatever ponies they had employed as unemployed, pushing Equestria further into economic crisis. With a destroyed economy, failing social order, and complete inability to repel the military advance of Rome, Equestria would burn to the ground.

On the other side, however, is the force of magic that Equestria possesses. Magic itself is only as strong as the wielder. Therefore, only strong casters pose a threat to Rome. It is hinted that Twilight Sparkle is the strongest unicorn in magic, and is therefore the measure of utmost talent among unicorns. Because magic is wielded by unicorns, there is no such thing as battle magic. Ponies simply lack the capacity to reach out and directly harm another being. The only case in which a pony is directly harmed by magic is when Chrysalis attacks Celestia, and this is a special case because she is the Queen of Changelings, an obviously different culture from Equestria. So, while unicorns have magic, they can hardly use it against Rome, because they lack the violence necessary to attack, and the skill necessary to do it effectively. Celestia and Luna are the only ones who seem to have the guts it might take to attack, but there is only two of them, and as shown, even they are not very good. Celestia was taken down with one relatively benevolent shot from Chrysalis. It seems doubtful that Equestria would stand a chance against Rome based on the information provided.

Because of insufficient information, I will not comment on possible nations surrounding Equestria. I will however cast doubt on the theory of their existence. Because Celestia and Luna hold abilities over celestial bodies, which affect the entire planet, it is entirely possible that the planet is tiny, and holds only Equestria and the Changelings and the Crystal ponies in a hospitable area. Their magic may be the only thing keeping the planet alive, so there is probably very little deviance from their rule. Because this is true, much of their magic is probably used to prevent the cosmic situation of the ponies' planet from spinning out of control. They are probably so weak at fighting because they are always using magic on the planet, which is why they traditionally switch off (Celestia and Luna, that is.)

Based on all of these factors, I conclude that Rome is the superior of the two entities.

Gloria in Victoria, my brother Permanent Temporary!

1673382 Rome, as much as it pains me to say, you win. You're human, you have tactics, gods, and sorcery the likes of witch Equestria as never seen.

1673407add in that there were sorcerers but they just sat there yelling "Work slaves!" and I think we know who wins.