The Torch Bearer and the Tutor: Prevalent attitudes towards the Roman Empire in Imperial Britain

Class of 2006 Electrical Engineering How do people in power use history to shape current policy? How does current policy influence conceptions of history? Examining these questions, this paper addresses how British imperialists during the late 19th and early 20th centuries redefined their ideas about the classical Roman Empire to fit their (imperialist) ideologies, and how British imperial policy helped set the agenda for research on classical history. Specifically, a shift in attitude towards the Roman Empire occurred in the late Victorian era. Until the mid 19th century, British historians viewed Roman imperialism as despotic. However, as Britain’s imperialist ambitions grew, historians began to glorify Imperial Rome and sought to forge a stronger historical link between the two civilizations. Politicians, meanwhile, began to actively partake in classical studies, influencing research and stressing the relevance of studying Rome. By the early 20th century, a coherent ideology had appeared: Britain was the heir to Rome and, learning from its predecessor’s mistakes, it would carry forward the “torch of civilization.” Classics