Speaking of war, it was Roman Empire weekend on History Channel and let me tell you, what..a..weekend. From Romulus and Remus to Julius Caesar to Caligula, Rome went hard. Plenty of history buffs absolutely adore the Roman Empire, in fact it seems the general consensus is that Rome was the greatest civilization in all of Mankind. That's weird to think about for a number of reasons, the first being that it started before the rise of Jesus Christ, and ended after. Interesting. Also, the society revolved around promiscuity, violence, money, and the combination of them all. What other successful society obsesses with sex, violence, and money?
It was actually the Roman's continual expression of sex and violence that caused them to be so successful. Violence is how they got their money, sex is how their leaders were established. If you slept with too many guys' wives, you were assassinated. America on the other hand has PETA, and feminist groups, and Mormons, and they call shame on the fact that we watch CSI: Miami every week. In fact organizations that so forcefully oppose sex and violence are one of the most apparent differences between Rome and America.
This is what I find fascinating about Rome, how the leaders climbed the ladder to power. Just like in America, Romans (who had a chance at it) craved power. For the upper class, it was part of life to desperately want to have as much power as possible. So regardless of your situation, if more power was graspable, you tried to take it. If you were in the military, you're gonna want to climb the military ladder. If you were a politician, go for the senate. If you were a thinker, you were a part of the university. But no matter where you were, you fought for the top of the food chain.
This doesn't happen as much in America. The concept of fighting someone for their hierarchical position only exists for a few of us. Obviously the 10% of American's without a job, the millions on welfare, and probably everyone except the tiny percentage of people who are like me, simply don't try. They don't see anything above them, and therefore don't strive to achieve anything greater. But back to Rome...
So for such a huge society, Rome was really filled with interesting leaders. And if you do some poking around the internet, you find how about 80-90% of them climbed to power: Public Relations. PR was everything to the Roman leader. Win or lose, if you looked damn good doing it and had a charming tone to your voice, people grew to like you and you rose to power. Charisma is well over half the battle.
So what is PR? Well, it's pretty much a euphemism for manipulating every single person around you. The most famous leaders in human history are masters of manipulation. I mean 'lie to your face, sleep with your wife, kill a man, and smile it off like it didn't happen' type of manipulation. It's all just a matter of great PR.
Julius Caesar once was captured by vicious pirates. They held a ransom at 250 bronze coins. Caesar laughed at them and said "Are you kidding? You know you could easily get 500..." Of course the pirates then demanded 500 bronze coins and the Army was charged double to get Caesar back. Caesar then told the pirates "But realize, if you end up getting your coin and releasing me, then I will use every resource of the Empire to find you and kill you."The pirates were like 'whatever'; they got their money and let Caesar go. Apparently it took Caesar and the Roman Navy a few days to find the pirates, and Caesar fucking crucified them all (literally). But crucifixion is a terrible long and drawn-out, excruciating death. So Caesar slit their throat before torturing and humiliating the pirates to end their misery early.
Or at least that's what he says. Hell, the Roman public couldn't even be sure that he even found the pirates again to kill them. And if he did, there was no way to know whether Caesar tortured them or not. But they believed him; and his image became more merciless, caring, intimidating, and gentle at the same time. There is no way that story could be told without Caesar looking like someone who should not be messed with, but someone who isn't just a ruthless killer. That story couldn't be taken negatively.
Which seems a bit coincidental to me! I'm not saying Caesar made the whole thing up, but he's lying his ass off at some point in that story. That's an example of absolutely flawless PR. It's not about what you do, it's about what everyone thinks you did. Not that every leader in the Roman Empire was a liar, but PR is how they sustained their positions as leader.
The importance of PR still holds true today. After you get your 4.0 GPA's, scholarships, internships, etc. most of your success comes down to PR. Does your smile grab attention? Does your humor appeal to your likability? Can you put yourself in any situation and deter awkwardness? And most importantly, will people remember you for things other than your statistics?
While learning about Julius Caesar charming the Roman Empire, I realize that PR is what I do all day. Just like Julius Caesar, I can bullshit a pretty damn good story. Even if they story is true, I can put some emphasis on a few key words and make the story even more captivating. Then I tell it like it's not a big deal, so people think it's just another day in the life of Decker, and throw in something about apologizing for telling a long story to show humility and I would bet money that person would not soon forget about Decker Loyd. Then if you can smile and laugh a bit you're radiating some great PR.
Thinking back to the working at that God-forsaken waterpark over the summer, the community of lifeguards and shifts fits perfectly into this theory. Who was the director's right hand man? Spencer. What supervisors were more liked among the lifeguards? Matt, Kevin, and myself. Who spent every waking moment kissing Kym's ass? Spencer. Who tried to make work fun and laughable for the peons? Matt, Kevin, and myself. It's not by chance.
So after a day or so of thinking out how I'm going to write a good blog post about it, I'm now in love with the concept of PR. Like Julius Caesar, I want mine to be perfect.
Oh I have to tell you the tale of Norton Commons. It's a good story, and I had forgotten about it for months until today in class. But I'll save that for later. This blog post is complete. Have a good Thanksgiving break, until next time...
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