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Join Wunderry Plus in the Wundery app or on Apple Podcasts. Hi everybody from Wundere welcome to another episode of Tides of History. I'm Patrick Wyman. Thanks so much for joining me today.

When we think about the emergence of Rome, it often seems inevitable.

Of course that city on the Tyver would become the greatest power, first in Italy, and then the Mediterranean, and then beyond,

the beating heart of a stable, long-lasting empire that went on for centuries.

Because we know how the story eventually turned out, with emperors and the Col and the Coliseum and all that, we tend to read the evidence for the earlier stages of the city's development through the lens of that inevitability.

But that's a major mistake. From the very beginning, Rome was surrounded by other groups of people, other cities,

alternatives that were no less viable.

It was part of a vibrant world

in its entire world in its entirety, not just Rome,

but even if Rome is all one really cares about,

grasping all those other places and groups and

alternatives, helps us make better sense of the Romans and what made them unique, or not.

Today's guest is one of the best people that we could hope to ask about the early history of Rome.

Dr. Catherine Lomis is Honorary Research Fellow and Part-time lecturer in Classics and Ancient History at Durham University,

a historian and archaeologist with extensive insights into ethnic and cultural identities and state formation in ancient Italy.

She's the author of one of my favorite recent books on this topic entitled The Rise of Rome from the Iron Age to the Punic Wars,

along with articles, book chapters and edited volumes.

I've had her source book on Rome and Italy sitting on my shelf

for almost 20 years now.

Dr Lomas, thank you so much for joining me today. I'm pleased to speak to you.

Thank you for having me.

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