How Art Made The World 说服的艺术 -12

So effective was his discovery that throughout his rule he continued to refine it. Hundreds of statues were made of his heroic physical presence. Alexander may have had the perfect image, but it was useless unless he could get it circulated to the people who mattered most - his new subjects.

Today we take it for granted just how easy it is to distribute an image. At the press of a button, you can send a picture to vast numbers of people, almost anywhere in the world. But for Alexander, of course, things weren't so simple. He needed to find a way of giving his subjects a daily reminder¹ of who was in charge. His solution was quite literally², to put his face in the palm of their hands. This is what he came up with, a face on a coin. He established 30 mints producing thousands of these throughout his empire, and on each one, it had a head closely resembling his own.

Alexander had found a powerful way to spread his image throughout the empire. For generations, Alexander's successors would produce coins with his face on them. Any association with Alexander would also give them authority. It was a brilliant idea and one which leaders ever since have used as a daily reminder to us all of who's in charge.

And of course, the power of the human face continues to shape our political landscape today. By Alexander's time, leaders in the ancient world understood just how susceptible³ a human mind was to the persuasive⁴ power of art, and they used images to promote themselves and their message.

But there's a more ruthless type of leader in the modern world who aims to wield⁵ the power of images in another way. It's something more ambitious than just self-promotion, something far darker, much more sinister⁶.

circulate: (vt.) To cause to move about or be distributed 使分送，使散布
mint: (n.) A place where the coins of a country are manufactured by authority of the government. 铸币厂
wield: (v.) To exercise (authority or influence, for example) effectively. 有效地行使、运用(如权力或影响)
sinister: (a.) Suggesting or threatening evil 恶意的

1 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

4 persuasive   

adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的

参考例句：

• His arguments in favour of a new school are very persuasive.他赞成办一座新学校的理由很有说服力。
• The evidence was not really persuasive enough.证据并不是太有说服力。

5 wield   

vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等)

参考例句：

• They wield enormous political power.他们行使巨大的政治权力。
• People may wield the power in a democracy.在民主国家里，人民可以行使权力。

6 sinister   

adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的

参考例句：

• There is something sinister at the back of that series of crimes.在这一系列罪行背后有险恶的阴谋。
• Their proposals are all worthless and designed out of sinister motives.他们的建议不仅一钱不值，而且包藏祸心。