Conceiving the Empire

Fritz-Heiner Mutschler is Professor of Classics at Dresden University.Achim Mittag is Professor of Chinese Studies at Tübingen University.

• I. THE BIRTH OF THE IMPERIAL ORDER; A. THE IDEA OF 'EMPIRE': ITS GENESIS BEFORE AND ITS UNFOLDING AFTER THE EMERGENCE OF THE EMPIRE; B. HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE EMERGING EMPIRE; II.THE FIRMLY ESTABLISHED EMPIRE; A. IMPERIAL GRANDEUR AND HISTORIOGRAPHY A LA GRANDE; B.THE SPATIAL DIMENSION OF THE UNIFIED WORLD: IMPERIAL GEOGRAPHY AND CARTOGRAPHICAL REPRESENTATIONS; C. SELF-IMAGE AND THE FORMATION OF IMPERIAL RHETORICS; D. THE POWER OF IMAGES: IMPERIAL ORDER AND IMPERIAL AURA AS REPRESENTED IN ART AND ARCHITECTURE; III. THE WANING OF THE IMPERIAL ORDER; A. HISTORY-WRITING IN THE FACE OF CRISIS; B. WHEN THE IMPERIAL ORDER DISINTEGRATES: RETHINKING THE 'EMPIRE' UNDER RELIGIOUS AUSPICES

This remarkably rich book represents a highly valuable contribution to cross-cultural studies of Rome and China