"It is impossible at the present time to determine the extent of the Benin empire at any particular period in the past...The frontiers were continually expanding and contracting as new conquests were made and as vassals on the borders rebelled and were reconquered."
Robert Elwyn Bradbury (1929–1969) was a British social anthropologist who conducted studies on the art, history, and culture of Benin. He worked with Peter Morton-Williams at the University College, University of London (UCL), contributing to the understanding of the Edo and Yoruba societies of southern Nigeria.
"Written accounts of Benin describe periods of fluctuating power and prosperity disturbed by civil wars which appear to have been caused by disputes over the succession to the kingship...Between periods of dissension the kingdom seems to have shown remarkable powers of recovery...The history of Benin, then, is one of alternating periods of territorial expansion and contraction in accordance with the degree of power and authority at the centre."