system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5 Why are we able to trace our lineage back through the generations, but don't hear of anyone being from either the ancient Romans or ancient Greeks?
gpt
We can only trace our lineage back as far as records allow. Unless you happen to be an aristocrat, this is usually only about 200 years tops.

We can also get an extremely rough idea of our genetic heritage to see where some of our ancestors likely came from, but if you go back far enough you could probably find an ancestor from anywhere.

If you are of European descent, it is fairly certain you have an ancestor who lived in the Roman Empire, because most of Europe *was* the Empire.