Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Preface
- Introduction: Presenting the Romans – Issues and Approaches to Interpretation
- 1 Tradition and Innovation: Creating a New Handbook to the Roman Wall
- 2 Re-enactment and Living History – Issues about Authenticity
- 3 Reconstruction Drawings: Illustrating the Evidence
- 4 Images from the Past: Fibulae as Evidence for the Architectural Appearance of Roman Fort Gates
- 5 Multimedia Interpretation Techniques for Reconstructing the Roman Past at the Limes Museum in Aalen and at the Limes in Baden-Württemberg
- 6 Vindonissa: Changing Presentations of a Roman Legionary Fortress
- 7 Bringing to Life the Ancient City of Viminacium on the Danube
- 8 An International View of Reconstruction
- 9 A Roman Museum for Vienna
- 10 Woerden – Hoochwoert (Dutch Limes): Showing the Invisible
- 11 Mainlimes Mobil: Presenting Archaeology and Museums with the Help of Smartphones
- 12 Voices from the Past: Presenting (re)Constructed Environments through Multimedia Technologies
- 13 Digital Reconstruction and the Public Interpretation of Frontiers
- 14 Information, Disinformation and Downright Lies: Portraying the Romans
- 15 Romanes eunt Domus?
- 16 The Living Frontier: the Passing of Time on Hadrian's Wall
- 17 The Hadrian's Wall Interpretation Framework: Audience Research
- 18 The Hadrian's Wall Interpretation Framework
- 19 Applying the Hadrian's Wall Interpretation Framework
- List of Contributors
- Index
- Heritage Matters
14 - Information, Disinformation and Downright Lies: Portraying the Romans
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Preface
- Introduction: Presenting the Romans – Issues and Approaches to Interpretation
- 1 Tradition and Innovation: Creating a New Handbook to the Roman Wall
- 2 Re-enactment and Living History – Issues about Authenticity
- 3 Reconstruction Drawings: Illustrating the Evidence
- 4 Images from the Past: Fibulae as Evidence for the Architectural Appearance of Roman Fort Gates
- 5 Multimedia Interpretation Techniques for Reconstructing the Roman Past at the Limes Museum in Aalen and at the Limes in Baden-Württemberg
- 6 Vindonissa: Changing Presentations of a Roman Legionary Fortress
- 7 Bringing to Life the Ancient City of Viminacium on the Danube
- 8 An International View of Reconstruction
- 9 A Roman Museum for Vienna
- 10 Woerden – Hoochwoert (Dutch Limes): Showing the Invisible
- 11 Mainlimes Mobil: Presenting Archaeology and Museums with the Help of Smartphones
- 12 Voices from the Past: Presenting (re)Constructed Environments through Multimedia Technologies
- 13 Digital Reconstruction and the Public Interpretation of Frontiers
- 14 Information, Disinformation and Downright Lies: Portraying the Romans
- 15 Romanes eunt Domus?
- 16 The Living Frontier: the Passing of Time on Hadrian's Wall
- 17 The Hadrian's Wall Interpretation Framework: Audience Research
- 18 The Hadrian's Wall Interpretation Framework
- 19 Applying the Hadrian's Wall Interpretation Framework
- List of Contributors
- Index
- Heritage Matters
Summary
Introduction
It is not difficult to find images of the Romans and information about Ancient Rome in contemporary sources. There are cartoons, picture books for young children, Hollywood films, television comedies, websites, school textbooks and popular histories for the general public, children's toys and violent computer games. This chapter discusses why the Romans and their barbarian enemies have been badly or incorrectly portrayed so often and for so long. In the UK, school textbooks from the 19th century and throughout most of the 20th century have often failed to present what classical texts, archaeologists and historians have revealed. More than that, these early school resources hardly ever presented any evidence for the authors' bold statements of presumed fact. This chapter also discusses the role of information books for children and the use of cartoons in storybooks about the Romans.
Although schools had existed since the early medieval period in Britain there was little opportunity for most children, and especially for girls, to be educated until parish schools became more common in the 17th century. The Education Act of 1870 created the opportunity to build secular day schools all over the country. School Boards were established in most districts and built public elementary schools, many of which still survive today as primary schools. Many children were educated at home in the 19th century and this promoted the growth of suitable textbooks for mothers or governesses to use in the home. Several history textbooks were written by women, sometimes using pen names, which demonstrated publishers' understanding of the market available to them.
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- Presenting the RomansInterpreting the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site, pp. 129 - 138Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2013