Mattingly, in ‘Imperium to Imperialism’, undertakes the task of evaluating the Roman Empire in a modern perspective, with focus on the Roman brutality in undertaking its conquests and then its role as occupier, drawing parallels with 19th century empires such as the French or the British Empires, and the American ‘aircraft carrier empire’ of the late 20th-21st century. He does this by illustrating that the contemporary empires looked to Rome for inspiration, which they did, as evidenced by the fact that British provincial governors tended to have classical degrees from Oxford. After that, Mattingly describes the three schools of thought regarding Roman expansionism: metrocentric, pericentric, and systemic impulses, with metrocentric being expansion…