
Holding the bridge
The legendary bravery of Horatius Cocles
A well-known legend of early Rome describes Horatius Cocles almost single-handedly defending a bridge against Etruscan aggressors.

Machiavelli and Flamininus’ speech
Livy 35.49.13
The learned people of Renaissance Europe looked to the Classics for inspiration. They cited ancient authors in day-to-day correspondence and in their own treatises.

The Roman fleet at Fidenae?
A lesson from reading Livy
According to the Roman historian Titus Livius, some earlier historians claimed that the Roman fleet participated in the Battle of Fidenae in 426 BC. How can we figure out if this really happened?

Food insecurity in Early Rome
Responsibility for solving food crises often falls to a community’s leaders. Early Rome was no different, and in the first centuries of the Republic suffered from, and solved, the problem of food scarcity.

Regulus and the Bagradas Dragon
When the Romans decided to invade Africa in 256 BC to bring an end to their war with Carthage, they supposedly encountered more than just Punic elephants and a cunning Spartan condottiero.

Lucretia and the archetype of Etruscan promiscuity
Scholarship has tended to downplay the promiscuity of Etruscan women as described by Greek sources. But with evolving modern sexual sensibilities, perhaps a different approach is required.

The jumping priests of Rome
A reference to the Salii as “jumping priests of Mars” leads me to wonder: who were these Roman priests and why did they jump?

Ethnicity and social power in pre-Roman Italy
There’s been lots of talk lately about immigration. Here’s a look at the topic from the point of view of early Rome.
No further results.