Rome, Global Dreams, and the International Origins of an Empire

Description

In Rome, Global Dreams, and the International Origins of an Empire, Sarah Davies explores how the Roman Republic evolved, in ideological terms, into an “Empire without end.” This work stands out within Roman imperialism studies by placing a distinct emphasis on the role of international-level norms and concepts in shaping Roman imperium. Using a combination of literary, epigraphic, and numismatic evidence, Davies highlights three major factors in this process. First is the development, in the third and second centuries BCE, of a self-aware international community with a cosmopolitan vision of a single, universalizing world-system. Second is the misalignment of Rome’s polity and concomitant diplomatic practices with those of its Hellenistic contemporaries. And third is contemporary historiography, which inserted Rome into a cyclical (and cosmic) rise-and-fall of great power. Rome, Global Dreams, and the International Origins of an Empire Contents List of Figures and Tables List of Abbreviations Introduction The Roman Predicament An International “Middle Ground” Global Dreams: An Overview 1 Pan-Hellenism Goes Global Mapping a “Mediterranean” World Hellenicity and World Citizenship Kinship Diplomacy: Building Bridges Roman Identity and Global Hellenism 2 The Problem of Rome’s Politeia Polis and Kingship Rome and Romans Among Poleis and Kings On a Roman One-Way Street: Third-Party Diplomacy 3 The Majesty of Rome Sacred Wars Imperium Maiestatemque Populi Romani Defining the Body Politic The Goddess Roma 4 A Cloud from the West The Changing Shape of World History Apocalyptic Traditions and Roman Despoteia Polybius’ Universal History Fate (Tuchē) and the Cycles of History (Anacyclosis) 5 A Liminal Finale Polybius on the “Roman Question” 146 BCE Conclusion: Roma Aeterna Bibliography Index