The Weight of Empire

Roman power, the ruler's character, and the lives within imperial history

Roman power is presented as a promise and a duty. Jupiter gives it no end, while Anchises joins conquest to peace and mercy. Marcus asks what ruling does to the ruler; Dante places the empire within Christian history without removing the deaths at its beginning.

1. Aeneid 1.278–285
2. Aeneid 6.847–853
3. Meditations 6.30.1
4. Inferno 2.16–27
5. Paradiso 6.1–12
6. Paradiso 6.34–36