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Going Viral in Ancient Rome: Spreading and Controlling Information in the Roman Republic

McCarthy, Brendan James
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7169-4378
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1523555735651174

Abstract Details

2018, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, History.
In recent years scholars have discussed the role of communication in the Roman political system. These studies have focused mostly on major public events like votes and contiones. This study will add to that discussion by looking at word-of-mouth communication. Rome’s political elite formed information networks to spread news and took great care that their public events like contiones and ludi were well attended and made news. Rome’s non-elite lived in a thriving city that encouraged the movement of people and information. Using theories taken from communications studies, sociology and the spatial turn of archeology, this study will examine the way information was spread after public events. The Roman elite relied on word-of-mouth to ensure that their reputations grew and their agendas received public support. They took great care to ensure that their public events would become news by encouraging favorable audiences to share accounts of the events with their peers. Sharing news, therefore, would have been an integral way from Romans to participate in politics.
Nathan Rosenstein (Advisor)
Gregory Anderson (Committee Member)
Kristina Sessa (Committee Member)
249 p.
History
Rome; Roman Republic; Cicero; Gossip; Communication; Space; Social Networks; Politics

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • McCarthy, B. J. (2018). Going Viral in Ancient Rome: Spreading and Controlling Information in the Roman Republic [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1523555735651174

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • McCarthy, Brendan. Going Viral in Ancient Rome: Spreading and Controlling Information in the Roman Republic. 2018. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1523555735651174.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • McCarthy, Brendan. "Going Viral in Ancient Rome: Spreading and Controlling Information in the Roman Republic." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1523555735651174

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1523555735651174
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.