Analysis of "This is PR: The Realities of Public Relations" (part 3)

PR Functions Throughout History

Because the effort to persuade underlies all public relations activity, we can say that the general endeavor of public relations is as old as civilization itself. For society to exist, people must achieve some minimum level of agreement and this agreement is usually reached through interpersonal and group communication. But reaching agreement often requires more than the simple act of sharing information: it demands a strong level of persuasion on the part of all parties involved in the decision-making process. Today, persuasion is still the driving force of public relations and many of the tactics that modern PR people use to persuade have been used by the leaders of society for thousands of years.

Monuments and other art forms of the ancient world reflect early efforts at persuasion. Pyramids, temples, statues tombs, painting and early forms of writing announce the divinity of rulers, whose power derived from the religious convictions of the public. Ancient art and literature also celebrated the heroic deeds of rulers and leaders who were considered gods or godlike. Speeches by the powerful or power seeking used institutionalized rhetoric (artificial or inflated language) as a principal device for persuasion.

Looking at some of the early tools and techniques used in persuasion can help put today's PR activities in perspective. Certainly such an overview will reveal that, in the process of its development, PR has amalgamated various persuasive techniques that have proved their utility and effectiveness through the centuries.

As Theodore Lustig, a retired professor and former Sun Chemical Corporation's communication manager points out:

The ancients had to make do with what they had. Two media, sculpture and coins, were particularly effective, and their use for political ends was refined between the fourth century B.C. and the establishment of the Byzantine Empire in the sixth century A.D., the beginning of the Dark Ages.

Lustig cites as an example, Phillip II of Macedonia. By 338 B.C., Phillip had subjugated all the city states of the Helenic peninsula under his dominion. Gold and ivory statues of Phillip adorned temples along with those of the gods. Phillip was thus a good role model for his son, Alexander the Great. In the thirteen years of Alexander's reign and conquests (336-323 B.C.), he managed to erect idealized images of himself across Africa, Asia Minor and India. According to Lustig, these image-making lessons were not lost on the first Roman emperor, Augustus. 

All Roman emperors from Augustus on, made use of the ultimate promotion campaign they proclaimed themselves gods and required the people to worship them. Augustus also had Virgil's Aeneid published for propaganda purposes. This epic poem glorified the origin of the Roman people and by implication, the house of Caesar. 

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