[aprrrr]

Sure, technology is great and all, but the historical analysis is simplistic.

> A patrician in ancient Rome might be able to make a name for himself around his neighborhood over the course of his lifetime.

Caesar, Spartacus, Cicero, and Cato are known over 2000 years after they lived. They are among the most famous people ever to have lived.

Our modern day "kings and emperors" retain vastly greater power and influence than we commoners, and they have the best command & control and surveillance systems in history. It is not at all clear whether information technology advances of the last century have contributed more to democratization or consolidation of power, Twitter notwithstanding.

[telemachos]

Yup, that sentence made me wince. For what it's worth, Caesar and Cato were patricians. Spartacus was a slave (not even a Roman citizen), and Cicero was an eques.

All four of them did pretty well. Julius Caesar in particular would have had his name known from Britain to Parthia - one end of the known world to the other. He did it the old fashioned way: he went out into the world and killed people. (He was a hell of a writer too, but most of the people who knew his name couldn't read.)