The Roman Empire: Roots of Imperialism PDF
Preview The Roman Empire: Roots of Imperialism
The Roman Empire Morley 00 pre 1 29/04/2010 14:29 Roots of Imperialism Series Editors Reinhard Bernbeck and Susan Pollock, Berlin/Binghamton This series highlights the relevance of past empires for our contemporary world. It is concerned primarily with the political nature of connections between the past and the present. The approach is radical in that it directs the reader to a recognition of how past empires are theoretically and practically entangled in contemporary imperialist and economically exploitative endeavors. The series sets itself apart from other books on past empires by including the point of view of dependent populations and victims of imperialism, rather than focusing solely on their beneficiaries, the well-known kings and imperators and their material surroundings of monuments and gold. Accordingly, the books devote attention to actions taken by dependent populations in response to imperial politics by giving a historical voice to resistance, subversion, and evasion. The books also investigate the ways in which past empires survive – or, in some instances, are silenced - in present conditions. Residues of the past serve political ideologies in often hidden ways, making them all the more powerful because they are taken for granted. The books reveal imperialist, nationalist, neocolonialist or economic goals of powerholders today who mobilize past imperial figures and structures as well as their material remains to support their own agendas. Morley 00 pre 2 29/04/2010 14:29 ThE Roman EmpiRE Roots of imperialism Neville Morley Morley 00 pre 3 29/04/2010 14:29 First published 2010 by pluto press 345 archway Road, London n6 5aa and 175 Fifth avenue, new York, nY 10010 www.plutobooks.com Distributed in the United States of america exclusively by palgrave macmillan, a division of St. martin’s press LLC, 175 Fifth avenue, new York, nY 10010 Copyright © neville morley 2010 The right of neville morley to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and patents act 1988. British Library Cataloguing in publication Data a catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library iSBn 978 0 7453 2870 6 hardback iSBn 978 0 7453 2869 0 paperback Library of Congress Cataloging in publication Data applied for This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental standards of the country of origin. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Designed and produced for pluto press by Chase publishing Services Ltd, 33 Livonia Road, Sidmouth, EX10 9JB, England Typeset from disk by Stanford DTp Services, northampton, England printed and bound in the European Union by Cpi antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne Morley 00 pre 4 29/04/2010 14:29 For Hugh Morley 00 pre 5 29/04/2010 14:29 Morley 00 pre 6 29/04/2010 14:29 Contents Acknowledgements viii Timeline ix Introduction: ‘Empire Without End’ 1 1 ‘Carthage Must Be Destroyed’: The Dynamics of Roman Imperialism 14 2 ‘They Make a Desert and Call it Peace’: The Nature of Roman Rule 38 3 ‘The Emporium of the World’: The Economic Impact of Empire 70 4 ‘They Called it “Civilisation”’: The Dynamics of Cultural Change 102 Envoi: ‘Decline and Fall’ 128 Further Reading 136 Notes 139 Index 157 Morley 00 pre 7 29/04/2010 14:29 acknowledgements This book is dedicated to the memory of my uncle, Hugh Chapman, who as an archaeologist and museum curator first inspired my interest in the messy and fragmentary reality of the past, rather than its polished and misleading representation. I have no idea what he might have made of my take on the subject; this is an inadequate substitute for all the conversations that we might have had. As ever, my greatest debt of gratitude is to Anne, for putting up once again with the agonies of book-writing and for helping to pull me through them. I have as always been inspired by the ideas of numerous colleagues, both through conversation and through their publications, and particularly wish to mention Sue Alcock, Richard Alston, Clifford Ando, Catharine Edwards, David Grewal, Richard Hingley, Martin Jehne, David Mattingly, Jörg Rüpke, Nic Terrenato, Tim Whitmarsh and Greg Woolf. I am grateful to the University of Bristol for a year’s research leave in which to complete the work and to recover from eight years’ worth of faculty administration, to Gillian Clark for moral support, and to everyone on the ’Spill for providing a regular distraction. viii Morley 00 pre 8 29/04/2010 14:29 Timeline BCE 754/753: Traditional date of the foundation of Rome 509: Expulsion of the kings and foundation of the Republic 395: The neighbouring city of Veii is captured 390: Rome is sacked by the Gauls 341, 340–337, 327–304, 298–290: Wars against the Samnites and other Italian tribes 312: Construction of the Via Appia from Rome to Capua 280–272: War against Tarentum and the Greek king Pyrrhus 264–241: First Punic War 227: Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia established as Roman provinces 219–202: Second Punic War 215–205: First Macedonian War 200–196: Second Macedonian War 197: Spain becomes a Roman province 192–188: War against Antiochus of Syria 172–168: Third Macedonian War 149–146: Third Punic War 146: War against the Achaean League; Macedonia and Africa established as provinces 120/119: New province of Gallia Narbonensis 91–88: A significant number of the Italian allies revolt; the Social War 73–71: War against Spartacus’ slave revolt 58–50: Caesar’s campaigns in Gaul 49: Caesar crosses the Rubicon; defeats Pompey at Pharsalus in 48 44: Assassination of Caesar 31: Octavian defeats Antony and Cleopatra at Actium 27: Octavian becomes Augustus CE 9: Three legions ambushed and slaughtered in Germany 14: Death of Augustus 43: Claudius invades Britain 61: Revolt of Boudicca ix Morley 00 pre 9 29/04/2010 14:29
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