Le origini di Roma nel libro XLIII di Trogo-Giustino

Trogus’ narrative on the origins of Rome (Historiae Philippicae, Book 43) has often been neglected because it has come down to us in the late epitome of Justin. But, through Justin’s compilation, it is clear that the Gaul-Vocontian author followed a special perspective, which is not comparable to the ‘Romanocentric’ view of both Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Livy, the most distinguished Augustan historians: in particular, Trogus devoted considerable attention to Roman prehistory (namely, to the Aborigines of Latium) and ended his account of Rome’s early days with the arrival of the Phoceans in Latium, at the time of Tarquin the Elder. My paper aims to analyze this narrative in detail and then evaluate its originality within the overall context of Augustan historiography.