Imagine Julius Caesar had a social media presence.
Follow @JC_togaboy for tips on wearing leaves in your hair, and getting knifed in the back. His two main skills.
Or, let's say, Marie Antoinette had an Instagram account—she would have sooo much influence. She might still be the Queen of France!
Alas, no World Wide Web for Jules and Mazza. No texting on their mobile phones for Jay-Jay and M’anto.
That said, you’d be surprised at some of the cool stuff they did have, back in the day. In case you’re not a historian, let me give you some examples:
Eggs
Goats
Candles
Lead mines
Plinky music*
Unpronounceable words
Headaches
Stools
Crumbs
Hat categories
Hairiness
Spoons
*Harpsichords and so forth.
Here's a recent New Statesman cartoon, after Pierre-Auguste Renoir: