“GLOBAL” EMPIRE IN THE POST-COLONIAL PARADIGM: AN ATTEMPT TO FILL THE CONCEPTUAL VACUUM
The debate on romanisation that arose in historiography at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century and questioned the possibility of applying the previous terminology in a postcolonial and post-imperialist situation, intensified the processes of searching for an alternative concept. All attempts to propose different terminology during the last twenty years have not been very successful. As a result, the deconstruction of “romanization” did not lead to the emergence of a new dominant paradigm, forming a conceptual vacuum. This paper considers the renewed interest in this theoretical and methodological issue within the framework of M. Versluys's and M. Pitts's concept. The appeal of the new approach at first glance lies in the fact that the globalization concept presupposes the consideration of cultural processes within the empire as multidirectional, at the same time maintaining the general imperial unity and the diversity of idiosyncratic elements within the provinces. However, for a more active application of the concept of globalization in ancient studies, there is an extreme shortage of examples of identifying the characteristics of globalization in relation to early historical periods. That is why the author questions the possibility of using and applying the concept of globalization to the Roman world, due to the insufficient development of the approach itself. As a compromise and support on a reliable terminological base, the author proposes to use the concept of «imperial diffusionism», which means unequal mutual influence of Rome and the provinces within the framework of political, socio-economic and cultural processes in the Roman Empire.