by Richard Barager | Nov 11, 2026 | The Early Roman Republic
The Fall of Rome’s Fabii at the Cremera In the early days of the Roman Republic, it was the responsibility of the patrician class to fight for the people of Rome and keep them safe. Military leadership and protection were the sine qua non for their superior...
by Richard Barager | Oct 27, 2026 | The Early Roman Republic
Rome and the Etruscan city of Veii, located just ten miles northwest of Rome, would clash throughout the first century of the Roman Republic. Veii was an established power in the region; Rome was the upstart newcomer, having but recently overthrown the last of three...
by Richard Barager | Oct 13, 2026 | The Early Roman Republic
The forlorn painting above by Jean-Frédéric Schall depicts the fate of a Vestal Virgin found guilty of breaking her chastity vow—live burial in an underground chamber, with a small amount of food and water. The chastity of the priestesses of Vesta was thought to...
by Richard Barager | Sep 29, 2026 | The Early Roman Republic
The legend of Gaius Marcius Coriolanus, as related by Livy in the History of Early Rome, takes place between 493 and 488 BC. Shakespeare’s Coriolanus and a film adaptation of it starring Ralph Fiennes are but two of many treatments of the tale, ranging from early...
by Richard Barager | Sep 14, 2026 | The Early Roman Republic
Patrician control of land to the exclusion of plebeians lay at the core of social strife between the orders of Rome. The story of Spurius Cassius Viscellinus is a stark reminder of how furiously the ruling class fought to retain its grip on the land. Cassius...
by Richard Barager | Sep 2, 2026 | The Early Roman Republic
Parable of the Belly By 494 BC, debt slavery in Rome had become as tyrannical as the king that had been overthrown just fifteen years before, at the founding of the Roman Republic. Nexum, or debt bondage, reached crisis levels for plebeian soldiers fighting in...
