Strabone e la storia dell'Italia romana

The historiographical sections in books 5-6 of Strabo's Geography are constituent elements of the geographical description; the author may have included historic material that he had not used in his previous work. It is possible to identify two different historical horizons, an earlier Greek one, and a more recent Roman one, marked by four phases of conflict: the Hannibalic war, the civil wars of Marius and Sulla, the Social War, and the sea war of Sextus Pompeius. The historical information is connected with the geography and the environment of the sites, highlighting their strategic relevance; Roman rule is seen as a product of geographical and environmental factors.