I. Orientation. Locating the fault line : concepts and scope. II. Early Rome : foundation. Looking forward from archaic Rome. III. The middle republic : adaptation. Adapting the law in the age of Cato
Ideological flexibility : Cato and Ennius
Life before liberality : Plautus and Terrence
The Gracchi and the failure of collective generosity. IV. The late republic : exploitation. Crooked generosity in the late republic
Cicero between justice and expediency
Sallust and the decline of reciprosity
Atticus : banker, benefactor, paragon. V. The early empire : separation. Prying worlds apart : the Augustan response
Seneca's philosophical cure. VI. Conclusions. Halftway to modernity.
