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common possession of the Indo-European peoples. Their life was for the most part that of shepherds and farmers.
The most important of the Italian peoples were the Latins, who dwelt in Latium; and the most important of the Latins were the Romans. Concerning the beginnings of early Rome, its society, government, and religion, and the fortunes of the city under its later kings, we shall give a brief account in the next chapter.

Selection from the Sources. Munro's Source Book of Roman History. pp. 2-4. The teacher will find this admirable collection of extracts from the sources an invaluable aid in imparting a sense of life and reality to the story of ancient Rome.
References (Modern). Mommsen, vol i, chaps, i, ii. Freeman, Historical Geography of Europe, vol. i (text), pp. 7-9, 43-49. Tozer, Classical Geography, chaps. ix, x. Merivale, vol. iv, pp. 414-416 (for some interesting observations on the evidence afforded by ancient geographical names of the wooded character of the districts about Rome in early times). How and Leigh, History of Rome, chaps, i, ii. Shuckburgh, History of Rome chaps. ii, iii. Allcroft and Mason, Tutorial History of Rome, pp. 1-18. Dennis, The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria, vol. i. introduction ( the author probably exaggerates the debt which the early civilization of Rome owed to the preceding culture of Etruria). Leland, Etruscan-Roman Remains.
Topics for Class Reports. 1. Geographical conditions tending to make the history of Italy different from that of Greece: Freeman, Historical Geography of Europe, vol. i (text), pp. 7-9. 2. Explain the historian Freeman's statement that "the course of all history has been determined by the geological fact that certain hills by the Tiber were lower and nearer together than the other hills of Latium" 3. "While the Grecian peninsula is turned toward the east, the Italian is turned toward the west" (Mommsen); show the influence of this geographical fact on the history of each land.