Livy, a Roman historian of the late first century BC, wrote this History of Rome. Book 41 is a later volume in that long series. In the book before this one, Philip V of Macedon died after a bitter fight between his sons Perseus and Demetrius; Perseus took the throne, and another Macedonian war was already on the way. The years here fall in the 170s BC, with Rome still a republic — a city run by a senate and elected officials, not a king — and its reach stretching from Italy to Spain and the Greek east.

The manuscripts of this book are broken, so the story arrives in pieces. What is left shows Rome holding several frontiers at once: war with the Ligurians in the northern Italian foothills, a grinding fight in Spain, and new colonies planted to keep ground and ease the hunger for land. Ambitus — the buying of office — rises as commands grow more valuable. Omens still mark the religious year. This is not a famous battle. It is mountain tracks, provincial cruelty, and the Senate learning to govern at a distance, while Perseus gathers strength offstage.