Ancient Pompeii’s political elite vied for advertising space on the “private walls” of wealthy citizens
The research is preliminary and not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal, and Viitanen said there is much more work to do to map the social networks revealed on the ancient walls.
"So far, we have barely scratched the surface on this," she said. "There are hundreds of texts and locations, and it takes a lot of time to go through them all."
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9 Comments
Add Commentthe article would have been even more illuminating if the author had included some quotes!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn a DVD course I once went through, as an example of early negative political adds, the instructor said one wall-message was, "The thieves of Pompeii recommend ...".
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs if more proof was needed that there is nothing new under the sun, and Facebook in particular is no game-changer.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAt some point, you have to admit that something is new. When your post can be read instantaneously by someone on the other side of the planet, you don't have the same thing as was happening in Pompeii anymore. There's a similar underlying principle, but the the nature of the two things is just not the same. Pointing to two things separated by centuries that happen to have something in common and saying, "There's nothing new under the sun," is more of a pose than an insight.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThink I'd rather have a modern-day cardboard yard sign than to have political propaganda painted on or carved into my house or fence.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe Romans probably would have preferred cardboard as well, but I don't think it had been invented yet. I think paper came from China about a thousand years later.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNo, it was...'firmly'endorsed by the whores of Pompeii...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI meant to add the cardboard yard signs are easily removable, that's why I prefer them. I realize the Romans didn't have access to paper products. Just an accident of history, I'm sure.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHeh, your rebuttal is most amusing (no sarcasm). Nevertheless, I find the anachronistic analogy put forward in the article - that the walls of Pompeii are like Facebook, rather than that Facebook is an extension of a behavior exemplified in such early artifacts as the walls of Pompeii - to be obnoxious, even if it was meant tongue-in-cheek. Social media overall is innovative, but Facebook is a very poor specimen that has mind-bogglingly gained popularity.
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