ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the persistence in western thought of a particular conception of imperial continuity, the idea that post-Roman history has been characterised by a succession or relay of imperial systems, all claiming to be the legitimate heirs or continuators of the Roman system. As with most grand narratives, the underlying message of this account is that such a development is both inevitable and right; no empire, not even Rome, can last forever, but the baton is taken up by the next Great Power to rise. Thus the United States took over from the old European empires, and now China appears to be ready to take over from the US; empire appears as the default, or natural, manifestation of power at a global level, and it is only the identity of the imperial state that changes.
