" . . . there was a historical period in the central Mediterranean during which numerous peoples, villages, and towns, 'armed one against the other' undertook self-promoting initiatives, both native and imported, which culminated in the so-called 'Apennine culture, ' the apogee of the Etruscan and other native civilizations. Furthermore, there also existed an era of city-states and an accelerated civilizing process marked by extraordinary prosperity and colonization, a transition that only finally ended with the Punic Wars in the 3rd century BC."

-From the Introduction This volume explores the dynamics that made possible long periods of progress outside the national-imperialist framework.