This book examines the course and nature of Roman expansion during the Republic and Early Empire, focusing on the impact of Roman rule on the subject, and the effect of empire on the imperial power. These are topics which have long generated considerable controversy among modern scholars. The study and judgement of Roman imperialism have always been informed by contemporary perceptions of international power relations and this is one reason students engage with the subject so readily.Part II of the book lays out the evidence and the circumstances in which texts were written so that the student can use this material to consider and evaluate the debates about Roman imperialism, then and since, presented in Part I. This volume is a valuable guide to a central aspect of the classical world.
