Translatio imperii

Linear succession of transfers of power

Translatio imperii (Latin for 'transfer of rule') is a historiographical concept that was prominent among medieval thinkers and intellectuals in Europe, but which originated from earlier concepts in antiquity. According to this concept, the notion of decline and fall of an empire is theoretically replaced by a natural succession from one empire to another. Translatio implies that an empire can metahistorically be transferred from hand to hand and place to place, from Troy to Romans and Greeks to Franks (both claiming to be Romans) and further on to Spain, and has therefore survived.

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