The media have been collectively tut-tutting over the mindless mob that gathered to abuse a woman held on bail over the Soham murders. Nothing new there: the Roman historian Tacitus (ad 56-120) long ago pointed out how satisfying it was to submerge one’s individual personality into a collective one.
Tacitus paints a splendid picture of the fickleness of the mob when he depicts the overthrow of the emperor Galba in ad 69, the man who would have made a fine emperor had he never actually been one, as the historian wittily puts it. The pretender Otho is scheming to seize power, and the outraged mob decides to seek him out and do away with him. But then the praetorian guard declares for Otho, and the mob’s sympathy immediately turns. When Galba appears in person to try to assert his authority, he is promptly murdered, and the mob stampedes off to the praetorian barracks to congratulate Otho on his triumph.
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