During the period from Rome's Stone Age beginnings on the Tiber River to its conquest of the Italian peninsula in 264 BC, the Romans in large measure developed the social, political, and military structure. This account traces Rome's early development within a multicultural environment of Latins, Sabines, Etruscans, Greeks, and Phoenicians.
"A remarkable book, in which Forsythe uses his thorough knowledge of the ancient evidence to reconstruct a coherent and eminently plausible picture which in turn illuminates early Roman society more immediately than any other category of evidence is able to do. Forsythe displays his impressive ability to demonstrate to what extent and why the tradition that dominates the extant historical narratives is not credible."--Kurt Raaflaub, author of "The Discovery of Freedom in Ancient Greece "An excellent synthetic treatment of early Roman history found in both modern literary and archaeological materials."--Richard Mitchell, author of "Patricians and Plebeians
