The Early Roman Expansion into Italy

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.