Tenney Frank

Name: Roman Imperialism — Preface
Author: Tenney Frank

Roman Imperialism — Preface (1914)

Summary

“Roman Imperialism — Preface”, published in 1914, is a work by Tenney Frank. It explores elements such as expansion, Rome and republic.

Quotes from Roman Imperialism — Preface (Tenney Frank)

Tenney Frank, Roman Imperialism — Preface (1914)

“ Unfortunately a detailed study of Roman territorial expansion necessarily creates an impression that is misleading. We must in such a study deal so constantly with records of war that Rome inevitably emerges with the character of an irritable and pugnacious state. Only a full record of Rome's success in preserving amicable relations with scores of neighbors could offset this erroneous impression. One must needs bear in mind that ancient international conditions were far more intricate than modern. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Tenney Frank, Roman Imperialism — Preface (1914)

“ In such a nation are there not enough negative cross currents to neutralize the positive charge that rises from the blind instinct to acquire? Such a nation was the Roman republic.
Obviously the student of Rome's growth must not rest content with generalizations that have come into vogue in a later day. He must treat each instance of expansion as an individual problem and attempt to estimate all the contributing factors. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Tenney Frank, Roman Imperialism — Preface (1914)

“ In the days of the early republic the Mediterranean world consisted of hundreds of independent city-states, and in the second century Rome numbered more than a hundred allies in her federation and perhaps as many more states in her circle of "friends," while on the periphery were countless semi-barbaric tribes ever ready to serve as catalytic agents of war. When one remembers that modern nations must employ all the arts of diplomacy to keep peace with their few neighbors, one is surprised not at the number of wars Rome fought but at the great number of states with which she lived in peace. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Tenney Frank, Roman Imperialism — Preface (1914)

“ It will bring to light the fact that Rome's growth is far from being comprehended in a single formula of modern invention, and it will explain the apparent paradox that Rome became mistress of the whole world while adhering with a fair degree of fidelity to a sacred rule which forbade wars of aggression. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Tenney Frank, Roman Imperialism — Preface (1914)

“ Old-world political traditions also have taught historians to accept territorial expansion as a matter of course. For hundreds of years the church, claiming universal dominion, proclaimed the doctrine of world-empire; the monarchs of the Holy Roman Empire and of France reached out for the inheritance of ancient Rome; the dynastic families, which could hold their own in a period of such doctrine only by the possession of strong armies, naturally employed those armies in wars of expansion. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Tenney Frank, Roman Imperialism — Preface (1914)

“ It is not surprising, therefore, that continental writers, at least, should assume that the desire to possess must somehow have been the mainspring of action whether in the Spanish-American war or the Punic wars of Rome.
However, the causes of territorial growth cannot in every given instance be reduced to so simple a formula. Let us imagine a people far removed from the economic pressure as well as the political traditions of modern Europe, an agricultural people, not too thickly settled and not egged on by commercial ambitions ”

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Source: Wikisource

Tenney Frank, Roman Imperialism — Preface (1914)

“ It is the fate of great historians that their dicta are generally taken for granted in space-saving silence and are mentioned only on those rare occasions when their followers dare to differ. Nor have I always been able to jot down a grateful note when I have accepted the suggestions of other historians. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Tenney Frank, Roman Imperialism — Preface (1914)

“ I venture to believe, however, that such an axiom is too frequently assumed, particularly in historical works that issue from the continent, where the overcrowding of population threatens to deprive the individual of his means of subsistance unless the united nation makes for itself "a place in the sunlight." ”

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Source: Wikisource

Tenney Frank, Roman Imperialism — Preface (1914)

“ My purpose in the following pages has been to analyze, so far as the fragmentary sources permit, the precise influences that urged the Roman republic toward territorial expansion. Imperialism, as we now use the word, is generally assumed to be the national expression of the individual's "will to live." ”

Tenney Frank

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