inhabitants of Latium emerged from four centuries of competitive
diplomatic and military struggle as the de facto masters of all Italy.

Power struggles are carried on by contestants who occupy a particular
land area with its resources and other advantages. Latium was small in
extent (some 2,000 square miles) and had very limited natural
advantages. Operating from this restricted base, through four centuries
of diplomacy, intrigue and war, the Romans enlarged their base of
operations to include the whole of Italy. In this crucial era of its
history Rome expanded its geographic-economic base to a point from which
it could use the natural and human resources of all Italy as a nucleus
upon which to build the Roman Empire in Europe, West Asia and North
Africa.

At the beginning of this period the Mediterranean Basin housed a number
of African, Asian and European empires. Each exercised authority over a
part of the Mediterranean littoral. Each empire was built around its
central city or cities. Each empire had its distinctive institutions and
practices. During these centuries all of the empires were defeated,
conquered, occupied and either dismembered or otherwise brought under
Roman control.

Extension of Roman authority, first over the Italian peninsula and
subsequently over parts of Europe, Africa and Asia, was the result of a
policy of expansion that was aggressively, persistently and patiently
followed by Roman leaders and policy makers. Neighboring territories
were amalgamated into the nucleus of the Roman Empire. More remote
territories were associated by treaty as allies of Rome, as dependent or
client dependencies of Rome, and as colonies or provinces of the Roman
Empire. In all cases they were integral parts of an expanding political,