CANCELLED *** Fantasies of Empire: Persia’s Past and England’s Future

This talk argues that England’s mercantile and imperial agenda was shaped by its fantasies of Persia. Early modern English writing about the ancient empire described it as both an exemplary model for excellent leadership and an inert empire in ruins, making Persia an ideal entry point into the east. By temporally othering Persia, these writers positioned England as the inheritors of a longer tradition of empire that would ensure England’s (white) imperial future.