“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears….”
This well known quote is from Shakespeare’s Julius Ceasar, Act 3 Scene 2. The setting of this famous speech? The Roman forum.
Built in the 2nd century AD, the Forum was the hub of Roman life and the place where much public speaking and debate took place.
This tradition existed long before the Romans adopted it. 2,500 years ago in ancient Greee, the ‘Agora’ or marketplace in Athens was one of the first examples of a deeply democratic government that allowed public speaking and debate. So it’s an old tradition and one that ran deep in both Greek and Roman culture.
So where do we do much of our business, buying and selling, sharing of ideas and debating now? Online. The ‘net with all its social media is the Roman Forum, or the Greek Agora, of today. It’s meant to be a place where we discuss things that matter. Read the rest of this entry »
