Lucas C . Wagner
Before Rome ruled,
It Fought to Survive.
What people are saying about The First Romans on Goodreads:
"If you like big personalities, intense stakes, and history that feels alive and dangerous, this is absolutely worth your time. I flew through it and did not want it to end. 🔥"
"Instead of feeling like a dry history lesson, it reads like a series of dramatic episodes about leaders, warriors, and ordinary people trying to hold a fragile state together"
For those who want the best parts of The History of Rome, this is your book.Hundreds of years before Rome became a wealthy empire, it was part frontier, part battlefield, and part political cauldron. This book is about becoming Rome. It's a story so special that it has been meticulously passed down for 2,000 years.Inside are the legendary stories of famous early Roman leaders. Romulus. Brutus. Cincinnatus. Coriolanus. Appius Claudius. Capitolinus. Camillus. Each story is a reflection upon human nature and the realities of leadership.The First Romans shows Rome not as an inevitability, but as a succession of moments when only honor, training, courageousness, and great weaponry (Ch. 32) determined whether the fragile Republic would break apart or move forward.Lucas Wagner, translator of Livy's Ab Urbe Condita, Books I-X, has packaged into a single book what Machiavelli once called early Roman virtĂą: the judgment, skill, and courageousness needed to master Fortune.
The History of Rome
Our two year, flagship project to make Livy a little more modern and readable.
Rome was not built in a day.It was built by decisions, discipline, and destiny.These are the stories that explain Rome's Epic Rise…How does a small riverside settlement become the foundation of one of the greatest civilizations in history?Livy tells the story, and this modern translation finally lets today’s readers experience it the way it was meant to be read.
Rome has fallen…
Now watch it rise again…After the terrifying Gallic sack that nearly erased the city from history, Rome stands shaken but not broken.Surrounded by enemies, abandoned by allies, and facing internal unrest, the Republic enters one of the most decisive eras in its history. These books show Rome not as a myth, but as a hardened power forged through relentless war, discipline, and political transformation.
Coming March, 2026We did a lot of research on Roman culture and ideas during our translation of Livy's History of Rome.In the process, we dug up old public domain books from the 1800s. We debated whether modern day sources like Wikipedia were right. And artificial intelligence queries were untrustworthy.We're excited to share our dictionary with you, compiled from hundreds of pages of our handwritten notes.
About the Author
Ercolano, Italy - near the Decumanus Maximus at Herculaneum
Lucas Wagner studied classical languages at schools in the United States and Italy, including Harvard University.
He holds an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management
and a BA in Philosophy from Texas A&M University.In a previous life, he served in various leadership roles in technology.These days, he loves writing about history, traveling, and a good game of Civilization.
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The raw text of the Wagner translation of Ab Urbe Condita, Books I - X has been donated to the public domain. It is freely downloadable, remixable, performable, and available to use for any purpose without permission.