Idols throughout history: Even the Romans had them!!

Has the human race always idolized their celebrities?

The creation of idols is not a new phenomenon in today's world of mass media. No, the creation of celebrity idols has been happening since the time of the Ancient Romans (and even before that). Graffiti of Rome's heroes were plastered walls throughout Rome and spoke of each celebrity's superhuman accomplishments. In fact, the making of celebrities into idols went much farther in Rome. After the death of popular emperors, the Senate would proclaim them to be gods, worthy of worship and adulation (called imperial cults). This phenomenon goes beyond any worship that we have for modern celebrities. As Landerman says, "Humans are born to mimic others...especially prestigious individuals perceived to be the fittest and most successful by the group." (p.72) Today, that is of course the case, but the Roman people would also mimic the greatest accomplishments of these idols in plays and other forms of entertainment. In both cases the masses would try "to be like" their idols. Our idols are worshiped with massive fan following, making the religion connotation more implicit compared to the more explicit nature  of the Romans.

Today, Celebrities' imprints are everywhere. Companies use the likeness of these celebrities on clothing, advertisements, and many other forms of media. This use is not all that dissimilar to the Romans where Romans would reenact the virtues of their celebrities. Many Romans had busts done of their favorite emperors and put those busts in their homes. This is exactly like today with the posters of our heroes that many college students (and others) have in their rooms. Time has not changed how we have worshiped celebrities as humans have turned celebrities into idols throughout history.