Reflections Of Roman Imperialisms

The papers collected in this volume provide invaluable insights into the results of different interactions between “Romans” and Others. Articles dealing with cultural changes within and outside the borders of Roman Empire highlight the idea that those very changes had different results and outcomes depending on various social, political, economic, geographical and chronological factors. Most of the contributions here focus on the issues of what it means to be Roman in different contexts, and show that the concept and idea of Roman-ness were different for the various populations that interacted with Romans through several means of communication, including political alliances, wars, trade, and diplomacy. The volume also covers a huge geographical area, from Britain, across Europe to the Near East and the Caucasus, but also provides information on the Roman Empire through eyes of foreigners, such as the ancient Chinese.

Across 800 years, the Romans established and maintained a Mediterranean-wide empire from Spain to Syria and from the North Sea to North Africa. This study analyzes the debate over Roman imperialism from ancient times to the present.

Roman tradition preserved in the first book of Livy presents a very circumstantial account of the several battles by which Rome supposedly razed the Latin cities one after another until she was supreme mistress of the Tiber valley. Needless to say, if the Latin tribe had lived in such civil discord as legend assumes, it would quickly have succumbed to the inroads of the mountain tribes, which were eagerly watching for opportunities to raid. Of course legend had to account somehow for the abandoned shrines and old place names scattered over Latium, and being unable to comprehend the slower processes of civilization, it took a more picturesque route, attached a rumor of war to a hero's name, and made the villages disappear in fire and blood.

The Roman empire extended over three continents, and all its lands came to share a common culture, bequeathing a legacy vigorous even today. A Companion to Roman Imperialism, written by a distinguished body of scholars, explores the extraordinary phenomenon of Rome’s rise to empire to reveal the impact which this had on her subject peoples and on the Romans themselves. The Companion analyses how Rome’s internal affairs and international relations reacted on each other, sometimes with violent results, why some lands were annexed but others ignored or given up, and the ways in which Rome’s population and power élite evolved as former subjects, east and west, themselves became Romans and made their powerful contributions to Roman history and culture. Contributors are Eric Adler, Richard Alston, Lea Beness, Paul Burton, Brian Campbell, Arthur Eckstein, Peter Edwell, Tom Hillard, Richard Hingley, Benjamin Isaac, José Luis López Castro, J. Majbom Madsen, Susan Mattern, Sophie Mills, David Potter, Jonathan Prag, Steven Rutledge, Maurice Sartre, John Serrati, Tom Stevenson, Martin Stone, and James Thorne.

Despite what history has taught us about imperialism's destructive effects on colonial societies, many classicists continue to emphasize disproportionately the civilizing and assimilative nature of the Roman Empire and to hold a generally favorable view of Rome's impact on its subject peoples. Imperialism, Power, and Identity boldly challenges this view using insights from postcolonial studies of modern empires to offer a more nuanced understanding of Roman imperialism. Rejecting outdated notions about Romanization, David Mattingly focuses instead on the concept of identity to reveal a Roman society made up of far-flung populations whose experience of empire varied enormously. He examines the nature of power in Rome and the means by which the Roman state exploited the natural, mercantile, and human resources within its frontiers. Mattingly draws on his own archaeological work in Britain, Jordan, and North Africa and covers a broad range of topics, including sexual relations and violence; census-taking and taxation; mining and pollution; land and labor; and art and iconography. He shows how the lives of those under Rome's dominion were challenged, enhanced, or destroyed by the empire's power, and in doing so he redefines the meaning and significance of Rome in today's debates about globalization, power, and empire. Imperialism, Power, and Identity advances a new agenda for classical studies, one that views Roman rule from the perspective of the ruled and not just the rulers. In a new preface, Mattingly reflects on some of the reactions prompted by the initial publication of the book.