Imperium To Imperialism Analysis

In From Imperium to Imperialism, Mattingly argues that the majority of the scholarship of the Roman Empire has overlooked the brutal, autocratic nature of the Empire and that the historiography would benefit from researchers being more critical of their preconceptions of Roman glory and imperium. Mattingly believes, contrary to many scholars, that meaningful contrasts and comparisons can be drawn between the Roman Empire and modern empires of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, most notably the British Empire. While Mattingly acknowledges that the concept of imperialism was not as well developed in the ancient world as in the modern era, imperialism is not a solely modern phenomenon and can be applied to Rome because of its uses and mechanisms of power, and the …show more content…
Mattingly clearly situates himself within the historiography of the Roman Empire, with frequent reference to other works and their relation to his own ideas. However, in contesting other historians, Mattingly is not always convincing. Often his criticisms are offered without accompaniment by his own solutions to the issues he highlights, such as the uncritical reception of Roman-era messages of its own power and glory, which can arguably be seen here in his own work with the severely limited criticism of Roman sources. This is a major issue throughout Mattingly’s writing. While he himself comments on the questionable quality of figures offered by Roman sources, and highlights a tendency for exaggeration, Mattingly goes on to make use of this evidence to support his arguments. Many other Roman sources, such as Plutarch, Livy