You are saying that sarcastically but that actually is very little. Compare the advancements from the 1,000 year prior, even just by the Greeks in Mathematics (Pythagoras, Euclid, Diophantus etc.) science (Aristotle), philosophy (Plato, many others) technology (Archimedes, killed by a Roman soldier) and astronomy. None of the things you mention are really hard problems. The fact is that the Romans were anti-intellectual and only cared about building which is not that hard. Also the Romans did not invent cheese or wine. Compare also with the Babylonians. Compare also the advancements made from 1200 in Europe.
Ok. But it is sarcastic in the Monty Python skit as well, and the argument is being made to the same effect. The same low quality Monty Python joke was in a previous Rome thread I posted in: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38765525
