The Mediterranean . . .
The geopolitics of the Roman Republic and early Empire in the first century BCE were defined by the Mediterranean Sea. The sea was a means of transport, trade, diplomacy, conflict and conquest, and was the heart of the area.
As nations rose and increased their scope of influence, rivalries developed and often led to conflict which reached across the Mediterranean, and sometimes played out on it.
The seat of power . . .
Occupying a tiny area in comparison to the extent of the Roman-dominated world, the seven hills of Rome within the Servian walls is at the heart of diplomacy and power – and corruption, political ambition, and intrigue.
Cosa . . .
Cosa (the modern town is called Ansedonia) was the commercial seat of the Sestius family. Sitting atop a coastal promontory, Cosa was a hill-town with a harbour and port at the base of the cliffs. Famous for exporting wine, fish sauce and oil, it also had an extensive fishery and is connected with Rome to the south by the Via Aurelia
