Kings, to the epic Republican struggle with Carthage, and the resultant expansion throughout the Mediterranean. The rise of the Roman Empire laid the foundations for the development of much of Europe centuries later. The early history of Rome is shrouded in mystery, in legendary figures reputedly with their origin in the epic Trojan wars, down to the Kings of Rome. The epic struggles, which took the Romans from a collection of small farm settlements along the Tiber, to an empire ruling all of Italy, and later, through involvement in foreign wars with Carthage and in Greece, to expansion across the Mediterranean, are studied in detail. The chronological style adopted allows the reader to study the development of the empire, its internal and external struggles, and the outstanding characters it brought to light. By detailing each year in turn, the reader is able to gain an understanding of how events unfolded throughout this fascinating period in history. Where there is a number of conflicts, the author has endeavored to deal with each as a separate entry, be it the campaigns of the Punic Wars of the Civil War of Caesar or Octavian, allowing the reader to study a chosen area of operation in isolation while also assessing its wider impact upon the Romans or their enemies.

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