Exploring Imperialism Of The State Of Rome
Rome was an imperialist nation. Their desires for world domination were a big part of their foundation. Foundation is the central desires, tenets, and practices of the state of Rome. The prophecies surrounding their world domination during the building of the Temple of Jupiter illuminate their desires very clearly. Rome was an imperialist state and would use the gods and supernatural occurences to support their desires.
To begin, Tarquin had begun to build a temple of Jupiter, the chief god of the Romans. “Tradition records that at the commencement of the temple the gods sent a divine intimation of the future vastness of the empire”. We see clearly that, in Roman tradition, the gods were used to support their imperialistic, empire-building desires. It again happens that supernatural elements are used for the glory of Rome in their tradition about how a “human head came to light with the face perfect” while the builders “were digging the foundations of the temple”. Livy says this occurrence prophesied that the spot would be “the head of the entire world”.
We further see here how legends contribute to the Romans’ imperialist desires. The Romans were power-hungry. We see Tarquin’s desire for power and glory in his building of the temple. Their traditional legends also support this desire for expansion, given how the ones surrounding the building of the temple prophecy a vast dominion. They wanted to be world rulers so much that they invented legends to give themselves a justification for expanding. It is noteworthy exactly how this claim about Rome’s eventual dominion is stated. Livy says “this appearance unmistakably portended that the spot would be the stronghold of empire and the head of the entire world”. The “unmistakable” part of this gives us insight into how highly the Romans thought of themselves. They had been given a supernatural sign that portended great things for them. It was not up for debate. Also, “a stronghold of empire” lacks an article before “empire”. This can be interpreted to mean there would only be one empire. There would not be many empires plus Rome, just Rome. This is made clear by how Livy goes on to say “the head of the entire world”. Nothing and no one would be competing with Rome.
All of these quotes give us insight into their imperialist desires for world domination. Imperialism was a central foundation of Rome.We see supernatural elements at play elsewhere, too. Livy says, before giving an account of Romulus and Remus being raised by a she-wolf, that “the Fates had, I believe, already decreed the origin of this great city and the foundation of the mightiest empire under heaven”. Clearly, the predestination of Rome as a mighty empire was certain long before the construction of the Temple of Jupiter. More supernatural occurrences happen when both Remus and Romulus see omens before bloodshed ensues.
We see from these instances that the Romans’ high opinion of themselves as a people predestined by the gods or the Fates is being fleshed out by legends they created. Remus had to die so Rome could be named after Romulus. In conclusion, a key foundation of Rome was imperialism. They were going to conquer the world and use whatever legends and events they could create to do it.
