#CLST6 #RR21 One thing that amazed me while studying Classical Archaeology was how little the propaganda styles changed. Those in power still use the same techniques and methods to ideologically control the people they are ruling over.
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Even though examples of this can be spotted everywhere -from politicians' promises to advertisements- a very basic one would be the coins.
Just like the U.S. government does today, the Romans prohibited the portrayal of living persons during the times of Flamininus ([1] 48).
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So, ruler portraits mostly appeared on coins in the Greek landscape. The attached gold Stater of Titus Quinctius Flamininus was found in Greece and is currently in the British Museum in London ([1] 48).
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It was issued after general Flamininus liberated the old Greek city states from Macedonian rule in 197 BC and it depicts him.
Very similar in style is this American coin from 2016- almost 2200 years later then the gold stater.
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It has a portrait of Thomas Jefferson-the 3rd president & a Founding Father of the U.S.-and Monticello-the primary plantation of Jefferson-on it. The inscriptions-"Liberty" and "In God We Trust"-highlight the main ideological cornerstones of the U.S.:Christianity, liberalism.
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The Latin inscription on the back-"E Pluribus Unum"- means "Out of many, one" emphasizes the union of the original 13 colonies, constructing the foundations of the *United* States of America.
2200 years have passed but, apparently, not much has changed.
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Sources:
[1] Kleiner, Fred S. A History of Roman Art. Victoria: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2007. Print.

Photos:
Roman coin is from source [1]
U.S. coin is from my wallet
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