By the third century BC, Rome was poised to build an empire throughout the Mediterranean basin. What transformed a once-modest settlement into the region¿s preeminent power? In the story of Rome¿s rise Kathryn Lomas identifies nascent political structures that unified the empire¿s diverse populations and finds the beginnings of Italian peoplehood.

Kathryn Lomas is Honorary Research Fellow and part-time lecturer in Classics and Ancient History at Durham University.