1 Marcus: What a fine day for a walk around the central administrative district of Rome. 1 Julius: Agreed! 2 Marcus: {spotting a poster stuck to a column} What's this? Some sort of public announcement? 2 Julius: What does it say? 3 Marcus [reading]: "OMFG teh carthage r teh suxx0r!!1!1!" 4 Marcus: Such immaturity! 4 Julius: Well, what do you expect from a Forum poster?

teh carthage was a city state based in Northern Africa and the greatest thorn in the side of the Roman Republic, fighting several wars against them. The Romans eventually conquered Carthage and incoporated its territory into their own. Of course, this implies this theme is set in Republican Rome, not Imperial Rome, contrary to indications in previous strips, but we've already established that anachronism is the least of our worries.

The Roman Forum was the administrative, commercial, and religious centre of ancient Rome. As the centre of the greatest empire of the day, it was a stronghold of collected wisdom, intelligent discussion, and skilled rhetoric by the greatest masters of language and thought.

An Internet forum has none of these features.

I visited the Roman Forum (what is left of it) in 2001:

And again in 2012 (almost exactly 11 years to the day later):

If you travel to Rome, I heartily recommend it. It's easy to get to, being - oddly enough - in the very centre of Rome. Not only can you experience the amazing history of the ancient Roman civilisation, but you can see where this comic was filmed!