ABOUT THE PROJECT
The reign of Augustus is regarded as the foundation of the Roman Empire. He was able to do what no other man had done before in ancient Roman history. Augustus ended twenty years of civil wars and military tyranny. He became the sole ruler and monarch of Rome. Augustus’s achievement was due in part to the fact that he was a brilliant propagandist. This digital history project investigates how Augustus’s use of propaganda evolved throughout his reign.
The main argument is that propaganda used by Augustus for political gain and power evolved throughout his reign. The findings show that Augustus, as a young Octavian, primarily used words as propaganda to create rumors against his enemies. As he gained power and became older his propaganda tools changed. He got married to an elite woman for political gain. He used his family, specifically his daughter, multiple times for propaganda and politics. Finally, he used visual arts such as coins, statues, architecture, and literature to cement his power, name, and the imperial family for centuries to come.
The word cloud below presents the most common words associated with the Evolution of Augustan propaganda.
By using text analysis software, the major themes are Augustus, propaganda, Roman, coins, literature, Aeneid, power, and statues. The most popular words correlate to the research findings from the evolution of Augustan propaganda. Augustus used many tools of propaganda to gain ultimate power over Rome.
Methodology
Due to focusing on ancient Roman history and specifically Augustan propaganda, there is not a lot of accessible data from thousands of years ago. The research for this digital history project entailed finding the building, roads, bridges, aqueducts, and temple projects that were commissioned by Augustus. The longitude and latitude for each location were recorded. Additionally, the name, date commissioned, significance, and some information about the building project were noted.
The second dataset was created as a basic timeline of Augustan propaganda. It starts in 44 BCE when Augustus became the sole heir to Julius Caesar and ends with the biography that Augustus wrote called Res Gestae meaning “things done.” What is shown through the timeline is how the propaganda evolved and changed over time. The research proves that Augustus was always a skillful propagandist even when he was young, but his use of propaganda tools evolved throughout his reign.
The software and programming packages used for this digital history project are StoryMaps, Voyant, MapHub, and StoryMaps JS.
The textual arc below shows the terms that are most popular in the research on the evolution of Augustan propaganda. It was created using textual analysis software. It includes a weighted centroid of terms and an arc that follows the terms in document order.