Ha ha, the REAL answer is that ‘feudalism’ is, itself, a very contentious term! How broadly or narrowly it can be applied causes serious fights amongst academics specializing in the periods of history where it’s applicable! Ask two historians whether ‘feudalism’ is real or not if you want to see a brawl - ask three if ‘feudalism’ can be applied to late Medieval Japan if you want to see a war.
The answer in context of the meme, I would say, is an acknowledgement that the Late Roman Empire (‘Dominate’) under Diocletian did lack some elements commonly associated with feudalism (semi-sovereign vassal overlords with independent power bases, for example), but was an early form of the development of later, more indisputably feudal systems (with the establishment of the degraded legal status of coloni being precedent and precursor for serfdom, for example).
Ha ha, the REAL answer is that ‘feudalism’ is, itself, a very contentious term! How broadly or narrowly it can be applied causes serious fights amongst academics specializing in the periods of history where it’s applicable! Ask two historians whether ‘feudalism’ is real or not if you want to see a brawl - ask three if ‘feudalism’ can be applied to late Medieval Japan if you want to see a war.
The answer in context of the meme, I would say, is an acknowledgement that the Late Roman Empire (‘Dominate’) under Diocletian did lack some elements commonly associated with feudalism (semi-sovereign vassal overlords with independent power bases, for example), but was an early form of the development of later, more indisputably feudal systems (with the establishment of the degraded legal status of coloni being precedent and precursor for serfdom, for example).