Art Of Persuasion: Political Propaganda From Aeneas To Brutus

The Roman rulers from ancient times are well-known for their ability to coax their people into thinking a certain way through the use of convincing pieces of art. The Roman Empire was very troubled and its emperors are infamous for such things as lavish spending, unnecessary war, and even the killing of family members, and this begs the question: how were there so few large scale revolts of the Roman populous? The answer is the use of propaganda in popular Roman culture. The Roman Empire used propaganda for political purposes by incorporating Roman family values, victorious war scenes, and general Roman successes into their artworks.

       In William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, although Marc Antony is allowed to make a speech at Caesar's funeral, he must not speak ill of either the conspirators or Caesar.  Antony was infuriated with Caesar's assassination, and wants to seek revenge on his killers as well as gain power for himself in Rome's government.  He must persuade the crowd that has gathered that Caesar's murder was unjust, and turn them against Brutus and Cassius.  He tries to stir his listeners' anger, rousing them into action and yet say nothing bad about his enemies.  Marc Antony uses several persuasive devices in his speech, which allows him to successfully convince the citizens of Rome to turn

Speeches are important to pay attention to, because you as a listener can grasp the concept that is being delivered. The use of rhetoric helps sway or convince an audience by using the three strategies of persuasion. The three strategies consist of rhetorical strategies, propaganda techniques, and logical fallacies. Rhetorical strategies are used to sway the audience by targeting their morals, emotions, or giving data. Propaganda techniques are known for the misuse of emotions to persuade the audience by using points that have nothing to do with the argument. On the other hand logical fallacies finds the faults in the opponent's argument. In William Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar, As well as in real life use persuasion. Speakers often use rhetorical strategies and propaganda techniques, such as Brutus and Cassius, to justify their actions.

The spreading of information is the mold to which society’s viewpoints are created. Depending on who or how this information is spread, it may be phrased to garner a specific meaning or arouse a specific reaction. W.E.B. DuBois once hinted towards this manipulation of information in his statement, “Thus all art is propaganda and ever must be, despite the wailing of the purists… I do not care a damn for any art that is not used for propaganda.” DuBois hints towards the fact that forms of expression, are when a specific thought or emotion is brought to reality to cause viewers to feel a specific way. Art would serve no purpose if it had no message to convey. Fahrenheit: 451 by Ray Bradbury depicts this message of propaganda as throughout

The qualities that make humans different from other species are collectively called human nature. Part of human nature is how individuals see themselves and others. Shakespeare uses human nature in many of his plays, including Julius Caesar, which has many examples of persuasion. He shows that how humans perceive themselves allows them to be persuaded or persuasive. The way Brutus feels about himself, and how he acts, is what allows Cassius, and later Brutus himself, to convince him to assassinate Caesar. Later, after the death of Caesar, both Brutus and Antony try to convince the crowd of Romans to join them, using different forms of rhetoric. There are many other smaller instances of persuasion, most of which include Caesar, Brutus, or Antony.

Propaganda has many influences as it is designed to meet the goals of a specific agenda. Propaganda is a message that creates enemies by influencing public opinion and manipulating other people's beliefs through mass media. Common propaganda techniques are

Relying on hostile evidence to recreate Marcus Antonius’ life from his youth until the Battle of Actium entrains several issues. This essay will discuss Virgil’s Latin epic ‘The Aeneid’, a kind of propaganda, Cicero’s ‘Second Philippic’ a piece written with personal and political intentions in mind, and Plutarch’s Rome in Crisis regarding Antony. One must treat these sources with caution, not least because of the inherent bias present in their writing. It is necessary to take into account the context, type of source and how the author has shaped material for their own personal or political gain. Limitations.

William Shakespeare was born in 1564, only a little while after the start of Queen Elizabeth I’s reign. As such he lived in a time of civil unrest later in his life because of the ruler being a woman, being childless and not naming an heir to the throne. Therefore Shakespeare used his tragedy Julius Caesar and the Roman politics in the play in order to reflect those of his day. Namely that even the government needs the support of its people, that advice given to political leaders should be taken into consideration, the consequences of rebellion, and the need for an heir.

Throughout history, propaganda has been used as a means to spread a political message. Shown above are two different examples of propaganda, each from a different time period and society. On the left is Augustus of Primaporta, a marble statue carved in Rome during the 1st century C.E. To the right is Chairman Mao en Route to Anayan, an oil on canvas painted by Liu Chunhua in the People’s Republic of China during 1967. While seemingly distinct in visual appearance, both pieces incorporate similar aspects from society that contribute to the overall intent.

The use of propaganda throughout time, especially when it comes to politics, is a common and widely adopted means of predominance and influence of the masses. However, looking back into history, few people of power and politicians used propaganda as successfully and effectively as the first emperor of Rome, Augustus Caesar.

First, one must define propaganda and since many have done so already, I shall use the Sheryl Ross model. Her model defines propaganda as “an epistemically defective message designed with the intention to persuade a socially significant group of people on behalf of a political institution, organization, or cause.”

Propaganda is performed through print, audio, and visual mass media. It is used for the promotion of the public’s activities in their life such as purchasing goods through market propaganda, and it is also found in politics, foreign affairs, and in many other fields. Most importantly propaganda is depicted in the informercialization of the news, which is connected with subliminal advertising and commercialization of public events and individual promotion such in communication websites. However, there is great debate over propaganda and persuasion that is casted in the media, which I will be elaborating in this essay.

The building severed as a justification for the kingdoms claim to power as a political and religious monument. By tying those two together, it creates a divine righteousness where citizens must follow their government faithfully or else they would be seen as sacrilegious. The Hellenistic art, appeals more to the emotional side of Greek citizens, who have gone through unrest with the combination and introduction to more cultures with the growing size of the expanding empire. The familiarity of the myths, that have long been apart of the Greek tradition helps create a sense of relief through the familiarity of stories- many of the citizens probably heard growing up- thus giving a sense of ease and faith in the government during times of war.

Propaganda has been used for thousands of years, for example, during the time of the Persian Empire, Darius’s, also known as Darius the Great a king of the Persian Empire, use of an inscription demonstrated his rise to

Propaganda, a strong and powerful word that carries quite a negative connotation nowadays. It exists since a thousand years ago, and used to be a tool that was widely used by charismatic leaders in order to rule a nation or just simply influence an audience. It is still constantly being used as a political and social mean in less obvious ways to influence people’s attitudes. By definition, propaganda is giving information that is not impartial. We usually have the Nazi propaganda in mind, or all the other war propaganda posters since it is more evident. But what about modern day propaganda?