Roma Victa

The history of the Roman Republic was a military success story. Texts, monuments and rituals commemorated Rome' s victories, and this emphasis on its own triumphs formed a basis for the Roman nobility' s claim to leadership. However, the Romans also suffered numerous heavy defeats during the Republic. This study is the first to comprehensively examine how Rome' s defeats at the hands of the Celts, Samnites, and Carthaginians were explained and interpreted in the historical culture of the Republic and early imperial period. What emerges is a specifically Roman culture of dealing with defeats, which helped the Romans to find meaning in the stories of their failures and to assign them a place in their own past.

1. Introduction. - 2. Methodological Preliminary Remarks. - 3. The Most Dangerous Adversary Since the Endurance of Our Rule-Rome' s Celtic Wars. - 4. Under the Yoke-The Samnite Wars. - 5. The Darkest Hour-The Roman-Carthaginian Wars. - 6. Summary.