Roman imperialism and the ‘post imperial age’

This introduction aims to provide a context for the papers which follow, first by suggesting that the study of the provinces of the Roman Empire is properly the study not of imperialism, but of colonialism; and second by outlining the development and characteristics of the body of post-colonial theory which has informed the papers collected here. I will begin with the contention that the exploration of colonialism in the Roman Empire – the exploration of the maintenance of colonial control by Rome, and of the experiences of the indigenous peoples of the provinces - has fallen by the wayside of a debate as to whether the Rome Empire may be considered imperialist, in the highly specific sense in which that term has come to be understood since the late-nineteenth century. [Taken from the introduction]