Characters
All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
— Reg · Life of Brian
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
A speaker grudgingly concedes a long list of Roman achievements, from sanitation to public health, then asks what they ever did for us. The joke lies in the contradiction: the question is rhetorical and undone by its own inventory. It mocks complaint that refuses to admit obvious benefits.
Context reviewed