Oh boy, this is gonna be a fun one. *Cracks fingers*In order to answer this question, we need to take a good look at our two combatants. In one corner, you have the Roman Empire, the Imperial phase of the civilization of Ancient Rome.This is the standard of the Roman Republic, as best I could find on the first page of Google Images.At the height of the Empire, it held sway over 70 million people and could field an army of 450,000 permanent, professional soldiers. The Roman military was divided into legions, consisting of up to six thousand men. There were imperial citizen soldiers, then auxiliary specialist forces, also including servants, slaves, and family.The Imperial Legionnaires were equipped with various types of arms and armor, including mail (lorica hamata), plate (lorica segmentata) and scale (lorica squamata). This type of armor was generally forged out of iron or bronze, and was considered to be quite efficient for its day, being able to safely repel most sword, spear, and missile strikes.Additionally, the Roman Army also issued spears and javelins (pilum), swords (gladius), daggers (pugio), and shields (scutum). The Imperial and Republican military forces used discipline and training to great effect, being able to form rigid formations, a notable example being the Testudo formation, shown here:This is basically the ancient equivalent of an advancing tank. The array of shields protected the legionnaires from arrow fire and some other missiles like javelins.Despite the strict structure, discipline, and high quality equipment of the Roman Empire, it's hard to see their chances until we examine their opponents.Sou2024 on the other end of the ring, we have the Democratic Peopleu2019s Republic of Korea, widely known to the outside world as North Korea. *Imitates drumroll*Technically, every word in NKu2019s name is a lie. They aren't democratic, aren't for the people, aren't a republic, and they control half of Korea.Laughably, we actually know considerably less about North Koreau2019s social, economic, and military conditions than that of a civilization that prospered two thousand years ago. With that said, the best analysts could come up with is something along the lines of varying degrees of succ.With that said, let's try and look at the numbers we can scrounge up around this little Kimgdom of Hermits. Keep in mind that some of these figures may be either exaggerated or just wildly off course, since there's incentive for North Korea to compensate for Kim Jong Jr.u2019s certainu2024 ummu2024 deficiencies.Alright, enough meandering. According to research conducted by the reputable source CNN in 2024. NK has 1.2 million active duty soldiers and 7.7 million in reserve, along with 200,000 u2018highly trainedu2024 paramilitary units.They also have these elite hacker warriors capable of breaking into Sony to stop the release of a controversial film.North Korea also possesses 940 aircraft within their airforce division of their armed forces. The percentage of these vehicles that are operational is unknown. From what we know, they consist of a number of fighters, bombers, helicopters, and transport aircraft, as well as UAVs.Most of this stuff is left over from the Korean War decades prior, manufactured in the USSR and China.Now let's zoom into those armed forces on the ground. Aside from the 1.1 million soldiers and 7.7 million reserve forces, there's 25 million people in the civilian population. Yes, NK conscripted pretty much all of the active adult population into the reserve. These soldiers are also armed with Cold War-era military equipment, produced and provided by the Soviet Union.If the Romans met the North Koreans on an open field, itu2019d be mass slaughter. The North Koreans possess semi-automatic weapons, and other outdated but modern weaponry. Not to mention artillery such as tanks, vehicles, and aircraft support.However, weu2019re talking about a war, so it's a bit more complicated than an open battle. The two main takeaways from this is technology and morale. Despite living in a modern, post-industrial world, North Korea repeatedly fails to produce enough grain and food for its population of 25 million, while the ancient Roman Empire was capable of comfortably feeding 70 million citizens, across a much wider area. The capability of the Empire to prfor its subjects would be enough incentive for some of NKu2019s invaders to defect to the Empire. Yes, there is a possibility that some see the Empire as a more enticing place to live than modern-day North Korea.Much of the military force in North Korea acts as a defensive army, mobilized for a US-South Korean assault on North Korea. In this scenario, let's just imagine that the rest of the world is empty, save for the Roman Empire and North Korea.The last thing North Korea would do is invade a country half a world away. There's 9000 kilometers between Rome and Pyongyang, and North Korea doesn't have the military capabilities of amassing a prolonged invasion.With that said, let's imagine that a scant handful of those 900 aircraft are capable of sustaining flight from NKu2019s airspace to over Roman territory. The Romans would probably think them heralds from their pantheon, or some other religious representation. But wait, there's more!Let's imagine that Rome actually decides to fight off their technologically superior enemy. There's really no version of a singular battle where Rome comes out on top. North Korea would deploy small groups of soldiers and aircraft capable of shredding the Roman Legions to a man.North Korea would probably win the war, but there's no way that they could conquer Rome. The Empire spanned 1.7 million square miles, and North Korea doesn't have the resources necessary to field a full-scale invasion.At best, theyu2019d probably pummel missiles and paratroopers into Rome, scare them a bit, but they don't stand a chance with invading anytime soon. It is possible that their few operational battleships could circumnavigate the Horn of Africa and strike the Mediterranean, but thatu2019d take quite a while.The biggest incentive North Korea has to invade is to seize the rich farmlands of Egypt and the Fertile Crescent under Roman power. But without a support structure from the Soviet Union or China, a prolonged invasion seems unlikely.There is a possibility that Rome could just surrender to these people with sticks of lightning and metal birds, and proclaim Kim Jong Un their god and savior.That's f*ckinu2024 depressing, and I'm glad that this isn't a reality.By the way, I can't believe I actually sunk time and research into this answer..,.. ,, ., ,,,
