As George Orwell astutely stated in "1984": "Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past." This profound observation is vividly illustrated in Flower's book. She delves into the origins of "forgetting" as practiced in ancient Rome, tracing it from the earliest writings to the second century C.E. In the early and mid-republic, families were entrusted with policing their members. Those who transgressed against the state faced swift consequences such as banishment and loss of family connections. This was a drastic measure as the Republic and its status were centered around a group of families that controlled the government. During this period, the punishment of disgraced members did not extend to their families or supporters, unlike in ancient Greece. Consequently, the Republic maintained a well-functioning system. The individual was erased from family memories, but the family remained unaffected, and the person was not erased from the state's memory.
However, all this changed as the Republic began to feel the pressures of Empire. Individuals emerged who not only eliminated a person but also launched violent attacks on the family and supporters of that person. All mentions of the group, from monuments to written texts, were obliterated. In essence, the memory of that person and his (almost always a man) family and supporters were removed from the realm of remembrance. This was particularly evident when Marius and Sulla came to power, although it had its beginnings with the attacks on the Gracchi brothers. The impact of these actions permanently altered the collective memory of the Romans. Worse still, subsequent upheavals would once again rewrite history. This weakened the cohesiveness of Roman identity and poses challenges for modern researchers studying ancient Rome.
Each of the men who rose to prominence through violence and rewrote history not only changed the collective memory but also shaped the future. Because when the present and past are rewritten, those in power have a direct influence on what lies ahead.