Images of Power in the Roman Empire: Mass Media and the Cult of Emperors. Contemporary leaders understand the power of an image to influence public opinion, but are they following a path well-trodden by Roman emperors? This project aims to illuminate the role that mass media and images played in securing and sustaining imperial power during the Later Roman empire from the Flavians to the Theodosians (69-450 CE). The comparison of coins, statues and monuments will shed new light on the dynamic wa ....Images of Power in the Roman Empire: Mass Media and the Cult of Emperors. Contemporary leaders understand the power of an image to influence public opinion, but are they following a path well-trodden by Roman emperors? This project aims to illuminate the role that mass media and images played in securing and sustaining imperial power during the Later Roman empire from the Flavians to the Theodosians (69-450 CE). The comparison of coins, statues and monuments will shed new light on the dynamic ways that popular media were used to mediate between emperors, their officials, provincial elites and the wider populace, and show how leaders used mass media in the Roman world. Social and cultural benefits include a better understanding of the ways that leaders today handle such media to influence public opinion.Read moreRead less
Storytelling networks and community crises in ancient Greece. This project aims to investigate how communal crises impact storytelling through an analysis of Greek myth in antiquity (800BC-AD400). Using an innovative digital platform that structures mythic data as narrative networks, it expects to generate new knowledge about the impact of natural disasters, epidemics, migration and war and show how narratives work as strategies for resilience. The outcomes include a new method for modelling nar ....Storytelling networks and community crises in ancient Greece. This project aims to investigate how communal crises impact storytelling through an analysis of Greek myth in antiquity (800BC-AD400). Using an innovative digital platform that structures mythic data as narrative networks, it expects to generate new knowledge about the impact of natural disasters, epidemics, migration and war and show how narratives work as strategies for resilience. The outcomes include a new method for modelling narrative networks against community disruption and revealing the preservative effects of social and cultural infrastructures. It will provide significant benefits, such as an improved understanding of how historical contingencies determine which stories survive, and better public access to research on Greek myth.Read moreRead less