Cicero and the Gossip Trap

by

Words have power. Silence is not an option. What we’ve heard is too heavy to bear alone. This information, whether shared publicly or privately, has the potential to foster open and genuine relationships for all parties. That’s right. Sure, we convince ourselves. So, the most appropriate action is sharing it with someone else through a phone call, email, or a discreet whisper after a church service. Yes. Speak now! What will it hurt?

Whether it's a Facebook post, a text message, a phone call, or a casual conversation, this is the progression of gossip, the corrosive force that undermines trust in relationships and stokes conflicts on a global scale.

Have you heard what the Israeli Prime Minister said about the Palestinians? Did you see that Trump said Biden was on cocaine? I don’t know, but I heard she’s having plastic surgery.

Gossip no longer confines itself to whispers and hushed conversations. It has found a new home in the digital realm, spreading like wildfire. CNN and the BBC, once bastions of reliable news, now contribute to the gossip mill. Gossip, a real-life streaming service that needs no subscription, is just a click away. If your phone has battery life, we’re only seconds away from hearing, seeing, or becoming gossip.

Gossiping, a practice traced back to the earliest human settlements, found its prime in the Roman era. (Wasn’t it Jesus who said wherever three are gathered, two are gossiping about the third?) The Romans elevated gossip to an art form. They recognized its role in shaping public opinion, exerting political influence, and undermining adversaries. Professional gossips, known as delatores, roamed the city, gathering information about Rome’s residents. These investigators, a blend of the East German Stasi and the contemporary tabloid press, supplied incriminating evidence to lawyers and power brokers, making gossip a potent political tool.  

Gossip and rumors move fast. Homer called gossip the “messenger of Zeus” (prayers in reverse). In his quest to best Homer, Virgil used much the same language. He pictured rumor as a winged monster with an eye under each feather, tongues that never stopped speaking, and ears always at the ready. Virgil’s idea of gossip looks more like an image of a beast from the Book of Revelation with the abilities of the National Security Agency.

“Others will write; many will bring me the news; much too will reach me even by way of rumor.”-Marcus Tullius Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero had a realistic picture of gossip and its impact on society. Sounding much like the modern man he was, he complained about the sensational quality of the news. As he wrote to his family, “Others will write; many will bring me the news; much too will reach me even by way of rumor."1

Cicero sought hard news because the constant coverage of gladiatorial fights and recent villa robberies disgusted him. This task was even more complicated when he was serving as a provincial governor in modern-day Turkey (around 51 BCE). It was hard to get political updates when he was living in Cilicia. 

Rumor, even the “slightest breeze,” could change everything. The lives of the senators and the existence of the Roman Republic depended on quashing unfounded rumors. Cicero knew gossip needed to be countered quickly and refuted with facts.

What to do? Cicero decided information should become public to prevent the spread of gossip and rumors. Creating a means to post, copy, and pass official documents and speeches (mainly his) from person to person would weaken the power of gossip.

Scribes copied the originals before sending the materials to Rome or the provinces. If someone posted the news from the Senate in the Forum, a friend in Rome could send accurate information to Cicero in Cilicia. I’m not sure what Cicero called this system. You and I call it a social network. As the Bible says, there is nothing new under the sun.

Gossip is unavoidable. As humans evolved, so did our ability to gossip. Perhaps, whether we want to admit it or not, gossip is a form of social cohesion. Maybe the very idea of gossip keeps us from killing each other outright. Gossip serves as a check on our darker impulses. If so, I’m all for gossip as a pressure release valve. I prefer people talking about me rather than shooting me.

If rumors did not exist, we would have to invent them. Despite our best precautions, our networks enable humans to share rumors more effectively. This doesn’t mean we’re off the hook. We have a way out of the gossip trap. Remember the three questions that kill gossip instantly: Is it kind? Is it necessary? Is it true?

1 Cicero Epistulae ad Familiares. 2.8.1: "Scribent alii multi nuntiabunt, perferet multa etiam ipse rumor."