First of all, I hope that the edition of History of the Roman World: 753 to 146 BC that the book chat participants have in their hands is the fourth edition, 1978, which is greatly revised over the original 1934 version, taking new research and archaeological findings into account.
Here are some items to consider:
- Scullard makes a cogent statement when in the Preface to the first edition he writes: “I'm very conscious that history means ‘enquiry’, not certainty.” A point which should be taken into account by both writers and readers of all history.
- There is a nice CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE which is introduced as “[designed] to emphasize som of the outstanding events in early Roman history. The Varronian dating (pp.428ff.) has been followed. Prior to 390 BC many of the dates are merely traditional and some of the facts (e.g. foundation of colonies) are not above suspicion.”
- And last but not least, I recommend reading Chapter XIX of Part IV first before delving into the book. It's titled SOURCES AND AUTHORITIES.
