ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I shall study the negative image of the Roman Empire that was held by many in the first three-quarters of the nineteenth century. I shall also consider the way in which a new and directly positive view of imperialism and the role of the Roman Empire arose in late Victorian and Edwardian times. This new and positive role for the imperial image was part of the context for the development of the particular form of imperial discourse that is explored in this book. I shall also introduce a range of works of late Victorian and Edwardian date which drew associations between classical Rome and imperial Britain.
