Roman Propaganda Vs. Today's Propaganda

Propaganda is when someone uses allegations, ideas, or rumors to further their own cause and hurt someone else. I do believe that the Romans used this method to make themselves and their empire look better. The Romans might have been some of the first rulers to use propaganda, but since their time we have seen many political leaders use the same methods to make themselves achieve a higher level of affection from the people under them.

The first sign to me of their propaganda was their architecture. First, I believe the gigantic statues and buildings represent the idea that the Romans had wealth because they could afford to build and decorate such an extravagant thing. Second, I think they were also supposed to portray that they had high intelligence because they could create the architectural wonders that had never been done before. Lastly, I think that they wanted every one to believe their army was undefeatable because most of their statues or monuments portrayed massive victories in battle.

I think that the characteristics that they portrayed helped them in their propaganda by making the people think that the leaders must be worthy because they were able to have all of these things. In my opinion, they built these structures not only to try to make the roman people believe they had all these characteristics, but also for other societies to hear about or see and be either intimidated or astonished by their empire.

In today's society, the politicians in the United States do not build elaborate buildings as propaganda. I think the main reason for this is all the architecture of the government was built long before they came into office. For example, the White House in Washington D.C. was built long before President Bush came into office and it was never meant to be changed. Even though they do not build architecture, I do believe they use it when it comes to buildings that are already there. I took notice that when the President addressed the nation during the first few hours of the War he was sitting in his office not in the pressroom. Looking back to me it was as if he wanted to give the impression that it was just another obstacle and he was calm and working in his office at home. Even though the White House is equipped with many offices and people, it is still called the "White House," so when the T.V. shows the President in his office or walking across the