Early Rome to 290 BC: The Beginnings of the City and the Rise of the Republic (The Edinburgh History of Ancient Rome)

The emergence of Rome as an imperial power. In the first few centuries of its existence, Rome developed from a minor settlement on the Tiber into the most powerful city-state in Italy. This book examines the reasons for Rome's emergence and success within a highly competitive Italian environment, and how much it owed to its neighbours. It explains how many of Rome's key characteristics, such as its powerful ruling elite, its stable political institutions, its openness to outsiders, and its intensely militaristic society, were shaped by their origins in the monarchy and early Republic. It covers the rise of Rome from small scale community to supremacy in central Italy. It uses the latest archaeological evidence to demonstrate the sophisticated and cosmopolitan nature of early Rome. It analyses the origins of Rome's Republican form of government and its aggressive drive to conquer. Illustrations 7 Preface and acknowledgements 13 Series editor’s preface 15 Abbreviations 16 1. Sources and approaches 22 2. Early Italy, from the Bronze Age to the classical era 56 3. Myths and legends of the foundation of Rome 102 4. Kingship 124 5. Urbanism and city foundation 159 6. Economy and society in archaic Rome and central Italy 213 7. Rome in the early Republic 258 8. Roman foreign relations in the sixth, fifth and fourth centuries bc 284 9. Rome and Italy 338–290 bc: conquest and accommodation 326 10. Rome around 300 bc 355 11. Conclusion 381 Chronology 386 Guide to further reading 388 Bibliography 391 Index 421 In its first few centuries, Rome grew from a minor settlement on the Tiber River to the most powerful city-state in all of Italy. This book maps the drivers of Rome's expansion and takes stock of its successes within a highly competitive environment. It notes what the city-state owed to its neighbors and identifies the key characteristics, such as a powerful ruling elite, stable political institutions, openness to outsiders, and intense militarism, that contributed to Rome's ascendance and shaped its monarchy and republic. This book is about the formative period of the Roman state.