Romans III

The Romans III campaign seeks to energize voters and fight the rising tide of authoritarianism and fascism in American politics, a purpose shared by Alliance San Diego. This campaign is an exercise in civic engagement, focusing on election participation and social justice. The campaign is a collaborative project by Debby Kline and her collaborators Larry Kline and Eleanor Antin, who have recently been poring over the texts of the great Roman historians Sallust, Livy, and Tacitus, who witnessed the fall of Rome nearly two thousand years ago, finding dozens of excerpts that could have come from today’s (or tomorrow’s) news feed. Using these as a springboard, the artists are creating a script for a short video from the viewpoint of Diana (goddess of the hunt and the moon), Echo (a nymph punished for falling for the wrong man), and Satyr (a mischievous goat/boy), who assess our crumbling society through the words of these ancient historians. Public showings of the work will become immersive environments with Roman-like ceramic towers to engage audiences in multiple lowest quartile California Healthy Place Index communities by creating a “call to action,” encouraging viewers to vote and recognize the importance of their vote at this pivotal moment.