İngiliz felsefi tarih ve antik çağ imparatorlukları

Although eighteenth-century British empire may seem a topic much exhausted byhistorians, there is still room for fresh primary sources and new approaches. AncientGreek and Roman histories published in eighteenth-century Britain are in fact validprimary sources to contribute to the studies of empire. This dissertation strives toplace these sources among the vast literature on the eighteenth-century Britishempire. In comparison with other types of history, ancient history was believed toplay a more significant role in the design of guiding the political nation. Historianswere attracted to ancient history particularly on account of the belief that the ancientshad already experienced all the hardship that troubled the moderns in their politicallife. In this sense, the eighteenth century witnessed the publication of an inordinatenumber of texts on ancient history. Throughout the first half of the century, inparticular, the analogy between Rome and Britain so predominated that the historiansof antiquity thought of little else than demonstrating a common interest in producingthe most authentic, well-written and informative Roman history ever, with the hopeof providing the political nation with all the instruction required. Only from the1740s onwards was the attention of the historians with ancient history diverted toancient Greece to a certain degree. Therefore, it was an eighteenth-century truismthat ancient history had the capacity to offer valuable insights into all contemporarypolitical debates among which the question of empire had a prominent place. TheBritish looked into a multitude of sources with the hope of finding guidance in theunknown path to imperial greatness. Eighteenth-century ancient history writingoffered insights into imperial matters such as expansion, colonial governance, therole of commerce as a substitute for military action, the desirable degree ofinteraction with natives and the fight against decline. Under the influence of Plutarchand venerable literary genre, the ?mirror for princes,? ancient Roman historieselucidated those subjects. As for ancient Greek histories, whose publications mostlycoincided with the rise of discussions about civilisation, they sought to deliver theirremarks on empire through comparisons of the states and civilisations that ancientGreece sheltered.Keywords: Eighteenth-century British empire, ancient history-writing, imperial studiesiii