The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars by Timothy Cornell (1994; 9781136754951) Entry-Level Overview/General: This is absolutely the best introduction to the early history of Rome, carefully synthesising the incredibly difficult archaeological and literary evidence for the period. Cornell illuminates the origins of the city of Rome in the murky depths of its legendary past, carefully explaining the developments of the various social, military and political institutions that would become the foundations of Roman success in later periods. If there are any criticisms, it is that Cornell is perhaps a bit too trusting of some of the literary evidence. Nevertheless, this book is essential reading for anyone new to studying the early history of Rome. ━━━ A Critical History of Early Rome: From Prehistory to the First Punic War by Gary Forsythe (2005; ISBN 9780520249912) Entry-Level Overview/General – Clearly written and admirably knowledgeable survey of the history of Early Rome, covering all the major events, trends and debates of the period. It makes a good counterpart to Cornell’s The Beginnings of Rome, because whereas Cornell might be somewhat too trustful of ancient sources, Forsythe, as his chosen title suggests, is deeply critical and does not believe that the ancient authors had much capacity or desire to record historical facts about their distant past. Forsythe does take this scepticism to the extremes sometimes, and the truth is probably somewhere between Cornell and Forsythe. The contrast between them well illustrates how fraught with difficulties and academic disputes the study of Early Rome is. ━━━ Appius Claudius Caecus: La République accomplie by Michel Humm (2005; ISBN 9782728306824) Intermediate Overview/General – Unfortunately, as of yet Michel Humm’s excellent book has not been translated to English. Although, as the title suggests, Humm chooses Appius Claudius Caecus “The Blind” (c. 340 BC – after 280 BC), arguably the first Roman statesman whom we can truly historically “know” with some detail, as the main protagonist of his book, this is hardly a biography. Humm treats the cultural, social, and economic spheres to illuminate how the Republican society and state functioned during perhaps their most formative period. Humm covers everything from military to public construction, from elite culture to the shaping of new Roman identity. This is not a chronological overview, but the book consists of twelve thematic chapters. One of the more central arguments here is that the Mid-Republican Rome was not an isolated island of Romanness in the Mediterranean, but that Rome was deeply influenced by the surrounding, mainly Greek, cultures from early on. Some of Humm’s arguments should be taken with a grain of salt (such as how central he believes Pythagoreanism was to Roman elite culture and politics), but this is an original and ambitious book that treats the period in a more multifaceted manner than most. The book is available for free from the publisher online: https://books.openedition.org/efr/1581

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard (2015; ISBN 978-1846683800) Entry-Level – A very accessible overview of Roman history, written by a very well-respected scholar of especially the Republican period. Beard’s chapters on the early history of Rome show a useful approach to using the problematic literary and mythological sources, treating them primarily as evidence for later Romans’ attitudes towards their own origins. She is explicit about what we can say securely and what is more fragile inference from the literary tradition, and useful to see how this material can be successfully handled.