British Politics and the Demise of the Roman Republic

During the past quarter century scholars from several disciplines have established the central metaphorical function of the demise of the ancient Roman Republic for both literary and political discourse in eighteenth century Britain. But the reverse side of that inquiry – the impact of the analogy between Britain and Rome on the modern historical interpretation of the ancient republic – has received virtually no attention. This oversight has concealed a remarkable modern British historiographical phenomenon that did not end at the close of the eighteenth century. Rather, for over two hundred years modern British political ideologies and preoccupations determined not only how the collapse of the Roman republic would be interpreted but also in large measure even whether it would receive historical examination. The various shifts of historical interpretation from the age of Queen Anne through that of Chamberlain illustrate with stunning and disturbing clarity the relentless manner in which contemporary political concerns can shape, revise, and eventually overwhelm modes of historical understanding without discovery of significant new evidence or the application of new methodology. By the twentieth century methodology itself, in the form of prosopography, in part served the ends of political commentary

Analogy · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Demise · Epistemology · Historiography · Ideology · Interpretation (philosophy · Literature · Phenomenon · Political science · Politics · The Republic · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Classics · Historical Economic and Social Studies · History · Law · Philosophy · Political Theory and Influence

• Scepticism, priestcraft, and toleration

  Open Access•Richard H Popkin, Mark Goldie•The Cambridge history of…•2006

  Incluir item

• Views of Roman History

  Open Access•Leo Shipp•Views of Roman History•2026

  Incluir item

• Cameralism and the sciences of the state

  Open Access•Keith Tribe•The Cambridge history of…•2006

  Incluir item

• Political languages of the French Revolution

  Open Access•Keith Michael Baker•The Cambridge history of…•2006

  Incluir item

• Encyclopedias and the diffusion of knowledge

  Open Access•Daniel Roche•The Cambridge history of…•2006

  Incluir item

• The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Political Thought

  Open Access•Mark Goldie, Robert Wokler•The Cambridge history of…•2006

  Incluir item

• Social contract theory and its critics

  Open Access•Patrick Riley•The Cambridge history of…•2006

  Incluir item

• The comparative study of regimes and societies

  Open Access•Melvin Richter•The Cambridge history of…•2006

  Incluir item

• The feminine of Cicero

  Open Access•Jessica Glueck•Classical Receptions Journal•2025

  Incluir item

• Greece or Rome

  Open Access•Jonathan Sachs•Literature Compass•2009

  Incluir item

• The impact of the 1917 Russian revolutions on Arnold J. Toynbee's historical thought, 1917–34

  Gabriel B Paquette, Gabriel Paquette•Revolutionary Russia•2000

  Incluir item

• Les massacres de la République romaine

  Open Access•Nathalie Barrandon•Anabases•2018

  Incluir item

• Adam Ferguson on the Perils of Popular Factions and Demagogues in a Roman Mirror

  Max Skjönsberg•History of European Ideas•2019

  Incluir item

• Cromer and the classics

  D Reid, Donald M Reid•Middle Eastern Studies•1996

  Incluir item

• The Roman Matron in Britain

  Philip Hicks•The Journal of Modern History•2005

  Incluir item

• Greece and Rome in the British Empire

  Open Access•Krishan Kumar•Journal of British Studies•2011

  Incluir item

• Late Victorian and Edwardian Views of Rome and the Nature of “Defensive Imperialism”

  Open Access•Eric Adler•International Journal of the…•2008

  Incluir item

• Romantic Antiquity

  Jonathan Sachs•Romantic antiquity•2009

  Incluir item

• An 'ancient sense of politics'? Weber, Caesarism and the Republican tradition

  Open Access•Peter Baehr•European Journal of Sociology•1999

  Incluir item

• Das römische Gesprächin a New Key

  A Dirk Moses•The Journal of Modern History•2013

  Incluir item

• The Cambridge Ancient History

  S A Cook, F E Adcock et al.•The Cambridge Ancient History•1930

  Incluir item

• The ideological origins of the American Revolution.

  Bernard Bailyn•The ideological origins of the…•1967

  Incluir item

• The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787

  Gordon S Wood, 朱妍兰 朱妍兰•The Creation of the American…•1993

  Incluir item

• Liberty and property

  H T Dickinson•Liberty and property•1977

  Incluir item

• Three British Revolutions

  John Greville Agard Pocock•Three British Revolutions•1980

  Incluir item

• An essay on the history of civil society (1767)

  Open Access•Adam Ferguson•Sublime•1996

  Incluir item

• The Greek Heritage in Victorian Britain

  Frank M Turner•The Greek Heritage in Victorian…•1981

  Incluir item

• Beyond Liberty and Property

  J A W Gunn, J Gunn•Beyond Liberty and Property•1983

  Incluir item

• The Origins of the Lloyd George Coalition

  Robert James Scally•Origins of the Lloyd George…•2015

  Incluir item

• Liberty and Property

  Jack Fruchtman, H T Dickinson•Eighteenth-Century Studies•1981

  Incluir item

• The Cambridge Ancient History

  Tenney Frank, S A Cook et al.•The American Journal of Philology•1935

  Incluir item

• Outlines of Roman History

  Charles Knapp, H F Pelham et al.•The Classical Weekly•1908

  Incluir item

• Augustus

  George Willis Botsford, Evelyn S Shuckburgh et al.•The American Historical Review•1903

  Incluir item

• Julius Caesar and His Public Image

  Henry C Boren, Zwi Yavetz•The American Historical Review•1984

  Incluir item

• The Quest for National Efficiency

  Open Access•Richard W Lyman•Political Science Quarterly•1973

  Incluir item

• Roman Essays and Interpretations

  W Warde Fowler, Tenney Frank et al.•The Classical Weekly•1922

  Incluir item

• The Social and Political Thought of Adam Ferguson

  H J Hanham, David Kettler•The Philosophical Quarterly•1966

  Incluir item