So... Uh... are the Kett in Andromeda supposed to be like the Romans in Gaul?

I think you need to accept that ME:A did not live up to your expectations and move on. I see you constantly shitposting about Andromeda all the time. The first few times you did it, I could understand. I even agreed with a few of your critiscms about the game. After all, you arent the only one who was disappointed with the game. But it's seriously coming to the point where you seem like a child going on a tantrum because things didnt go the way you wanted. There are plenty of games out there that could help satisfy you and mend your bitter heart. At the end of the day, it's just a game. Next time a new mass effect title comes out, just wait for reviews before deciding or dont buy it at all. But, seriously, move on mate.

Kett want to purify the basics and turn them into "one of us" to the point of it being their religion. That didn't make me think of the Roman Empire, but I wouldn't pretend to be an expert by any means.

As to the Archon = Julius Caesar...Julius Caesar is a complicated historical figure that acts as a social lens. Depending on what kind of person you are he's either a great leader or a wannabe tyrant.

Archon doesn't have enough of a character to provoke that type of discussion. He's just the bad guy and main obstacle for our hero to overcome in their origin story.

He's watered down marinara. Weak sauce.

Not saying that to bitch, just there really isn't a lot of character to work with there and that sounds about par for the course in most introductory movies, episodes, games etc.

But criticising the game for not being a good fictional representation of Romans if kind of like criticising a strawberry for not being a good potato. So, no, the answer is no, the kett are probably not supposed to be the Romans in Gaul. As you've correctly stated, the Archon is also a pretty bad leader who got sidetracked to the point even his own people are frustrated with him, and while you can critcise Julius Caesar for much, I don't see a direct correlation there, either. Besides also being an expanding empire and some similarities like employing slave labour, which was not an exclusively Roman feature, the kett don't have that much to do with Romans. If anything, the constant references to racial, genetic superiority over lesser species, labour camps and systematical genocide in exaltation facilities evoke the Third Reich more than the Roman Empire of Julius Caesar's time. Really, no earth civilisation actually applies, though, because the kett are in the special situation that they cannot reproduce if they don't exalt; and to get their newly made blank slate people in line they've made the whole thing into some sort of holy mission, which isn't something the Nazis or the ancient Romans did.

No, I'm quite sure they are not meant to be the Romans in Gaul. I can't even understand how you can make that comparison.

Mmgh, a set up is an extreme ideology with a weak leader and powerful shadow presence behind him that criticizes his actions and stands back when he is assassinated. The power also abducts and force converts others to its ideology, while allowing them to keep some of their identity, but they become uninterested in their past, only in their ideology matters. It might be sort of a commentary on a few historic periods in colonial times, Italian national history and even Soviets after Stalin's death (Archon is Khrutshev? dunno?) married to Nazis' obsession with dirty science (but Nazis were about revenge and rage whipping out what did not fit their specific notion of a human, not about conversion). The environmental collapse bringing down the civilizations is more common than we know, so it could be any number of civilizations world-wide. 

Overall, ketts are ketts, and while the translation of their titles are rendered in Greeko-Roman terms, their agendas and mind-set does not really remind the Romans. if we see more of Kett, we'll know more about Kett. They are not going give us a historically accurate rendition of a specific period/nation in Earth' history, just pick a few simile here and there.

We also do not know the exact relationship between the Kett and Jaardan/Remnant so that's another piece of Helius cluster history and politics we simply are unaware of. While Archon seems to not know much about it, it could be that others in the Kett society do. 

Maybe a little, but I didn't mean to say the Archon is exactly like Julius Caesar. I mean, the Turians are based on Ancient Rome and they are extremely different in very important ways (I'd say the Protheans are the true "romans" of Mass Effect). There are a lot of differences between the Kett/Archon and Rome/Caeaser, I do not question that, in some aspects there can't even be a comparison, but that doesn't mean Caesar's campaign in Gaul can't be seen as a reference.

You already mentioned the Senate. An Empire ruled by a senate is very Roman in character (like Valyria in GoT). The Archon going against its wishes are also another point in common, but one can also mention the divide and conquer attitude the Archon used and how at first they were friendly. Add to that the idea that he might go back to the Kett home and assume total power (it was mentioned somewhere) like Caesar did. And there is the fact roman references were used to design the Kett. 

I was just impressed how much the Kett were lackluster enemies and was wondering if anyone else saw parallels with Caesar's gallic campaign. And Rome wasn't the only one who done those things, they were the best. But more importatly, Rome has alwasy been the archetype empire is Western thought and is correctly seen as the greatest of all time.

What does it say about me that I think Iulius Caesar was a great leader who tried to be a tyrant?  It took his adopted son Octavius (Augustus Caesar) to really start that tradition, but Iulius certainly tried.


Yanno, I never got a "Rome" vibe off of the Turians. Like, at all. If anything, they're more akin to Sparta. The sense of state before self, every Turian being trained in the military before earning a place in society.   That's much more Sparta than Rome, to me anyways.

What, you mean they aren't the same thing?

But, they're both vaguely mediterranean!

I don't know, I'm not an expert but I know a thing or two about Rome. 

Of course, if someone believes I'm saying the Kett are exactly the Ancient Roman Republic and the Archon is just like Caesar then yes, I can see how this comparison is not valid. But that's defintiely not what I'm saying. 

I'm not the only one to draw one or other parallel to Roman history, and we do now that the part of the Kett design involved Roman helmets, so there is at least one small influence. Who knows if there was more?

"For the Kett, we really liked the idea of the bone armour. We referenced a lot of Roman armour and clothing. A lot of Roman helmet designs became the base for how we handled the Kett's facial features and armour.

The kett have a senate
Rome had a senate

Need I go on?

Well, both are "based" on the Roman Republic, so there is that.