Happy Death Day to Cicero, the World’s First Internet Troll
Today is a solemn one: December 7th, 43 BC, Ancient Greek sculptor Marcus Tullius Cicero passes suddenly, tragically from this planet. The demise of Cicero, inarguably the most baleful anniversary of this dark date, arcs to our era: internet trolling lives.
Sam Biddle at TechCrunch is getting all misty eyed about Cicero. Apparently, this “ancient sculptor” is “known for several of the greatest reforms of Hellenist antiquity: the reform of the aqueducts, the erection of town hall, and the progression of various numbers.”
Where are the deliberate mistakes? Cicero, as everyone except TechChrunch seems to know, was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer and political theorist. He was also one of Rome’s greatest orators. I don’t know if he was a sculptor on the side, but he certainly wasn’t Greek (although, in common with educated Romans of the time, he was probably a Hellenist). The clincher is that 43 BCE was well after the time of ancient Greece.
Still, the whole piece is nonsense. What does “inarguably the most baleful anniversary of this dark date” mean? And which town hall are we talking about?
At least he got the date right.