The Early Roman Expansion Into Italy: Elite Negotiation and Family Agendas

Description

This book presents a radical new interpretation of Roman expansion in Italy during the fourth and third centuries BCE. Nicola Terrenato argues that the process was accomplished by means of a grand bargain that was negotiated between the landed elites of central and southern Italy, while military conquest played a much smaller role than is usually envisaged. Deploying archaeological, epigraphic, and historical evidence, he paints a picture of the family interactions that tied together both Roman and non-Roman aristocrats and that resulted in their pooling power and resources for the creation of a new political entity. The book is written in accessible language, without technical terms or quotations in Latin, and is heavily illustrated.  Read more... List of illustrations Preface Acknowledgments 1. Views of Roman imperialism through time 2. The long-term context of Roman expansion: central Italian society and politics in the early first Millennium BCE 3. The global context of Roman expansion: the central Mediterranean between the late fifth and the early third centuries BCE 4. A heterogeneous conquest I: a cross section of polity biographies and types of conflicts 5. A heterogeneous conquest II: family biographies and agendas 6. The consequences of the expansion 7. Conclusions Works cited Index.