social media in ancient Rome
Roman politics was cut throat. As a young senator, you sought to align yourself with the faction that reflected your family’s values and traditions and you sought out the support of the leading senators and influential families. Some politicians cultivated the support of the people - the mob - and used their support to secure power and influence. Think Julius Caesar.
Augustus (the first emperor of Rome in the 1st C BC/AD) made spectacular use of statuary and buildings to reinforce his vision for Rome. It is believed that he said: I found Rome a city built of brick and left it a city of marble. He rated himself.
I teach the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of Augustus each year in my senior ancient history class. Each year, there are parallels with events in the 21stC and each year students can see how much of human behaviour has not really changed. But in the recent years, we have begun to explore the role of social media in the modern world and how powerful a tool it is in the hands of politicians and powerbrokers. We see the rise of the “influencer” and we see the youth tantalised by what they see, hear and read on their screens. This got me thinking about social media in ancient Rome. If Julius Caesar, Pompey, the Senate and then Augustus had access to social media platforms, how would they have curated their image and what messages would they send? One can only speculate how Julius Caesar would have used Twitter, or Augustus would have used Instagram, or the Senate use the traditional platform of Facebook!
So we did an activity this year that required students to respond to key events and sources by using Twitter. Rather than use the real platform (for all sorts of legal and privacy issues) I created a profile for Caesar, Pompey and the Senate. Students were issued a digital tweet sheet and reminded that they had a limit of 140 characters included emojis and hashtags for each tweet. The profiles were put up on the large windows in the classroom and girls tweeted and responded according to the events and source we studies in class. I was constantly surprised at their wit and their ability to communicate their ideas in a succinct and creative way.
Next term, we study Augustus and what kind of ruler he was. How did he achieve his aims and what strategies did he use? Again, I plan to use social media as a teaching tool. My idea is:
create Augustus’ profile on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat
Consider the audience for each platform - not all Snapchat users are twitter users
How would Augustus (and his team) use each platform to communicate his message?
how would Romans communicate with him through these platforms?
How would the senate, the poets, any opposition respond on these platforms?
Would Augustus present the same image of himself on all platforms?
Why do this activity? As a history teacher it is incumbent upon me to teach critical thinking, analysis and to encourage students to question everything and seek evidence upon which to base their conclusions. In the 21stC, the public seem to be dazzled by the bright lights of the screen rather than seek the factual evidence of experts. This activity is designed to get the students to think critically about Augustus as a power broker but also to see how propaganda can be used to its fullest effect - be it statues, inscriptions, temples or screens!
I have been so impressed with how students have embraced the activity when studying the fall of the Roman Republic. I look forward to seeing what Augustus gets up to with the full suite of social media!
Go forth and conquer!
