Ancient history begins and ends with the ancient evidence. The evidence represents not only the foundation of the discipline, but the material out of which any argument must be built, and it is not possible to go further than it allows. This is part of the reason why the nature and value of the evidence for early Rome have long been, and remain, matters of considerable and sometimes contentious debate. The best evidence, simply because it is contemporary, is arguably the archaeological, but the sorts of questions that archaeological evidence can answer are often of little help when it comes to matters such as the politics and political structures of early Rome, which are the focus of this collection. For such matters, it is still necessary to work with the literary evidence. However, since the historical value of the literary evidence is so hotly contested, the uses to which that evidence is put and the conclusions that are drawn from it inevitably vary considerably. Despite more than a century of research, there is still nothing even remotely resembling a consensus on how the literary sources should best be handled. This paper explores some of the problems with the evidence for early Rome, considers something of the limits and uses of that evidence, as well as introduces the contributions that make up this collection of studies on power and politics in early Rome.

中文翻译：

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作者、考古学和论据：早期罗马政治的证据和模式

古代历史以古代证据开始和结束。证据不仅代表了学科的基础，而且代表了任何论证都必须依据的材料，而且不可能超出它所允许的范围。这就是为什么早期罗马证据的性质和价值长期以来一直是并且仍然是相当大的，有时甚至是有争议的争论的部分原因。最好的证据，仅仅因为它是当代的，可以说是考古学的，但是当涉及到诸如早期罗马的政治和政治结构之类的问题时，考古学证据可以回答的问题往往无济于事，这是焦点这个集合。对于此类问题，仍需借助文学证据。然而，由于文学证据的历史价值受到如此激烈的争论，这些证据的用途和从中得出的结论不可避免地会有很大差异。尽管进行了一个多世纪的研究，但对于如何最好地处理文学资料，仍然没有任何类似的共识。本文探讨了早期罗马证据的一些问题，考虑了该证据的一些局限性和用途，并介绍了构成罗马早期权力和政治研究集的贡献。对于如何最好地处理文学来源，甚至还没有任何类似的共识。本文探讨了早期罗马证据的一些问题，考虑了该证据的一些局限性和用途，并介绍了构成罗马早期权力和政治研究集的贡献。对于如何最好地处理文学来源，甚至还没有任何类似的共识。本文探讨了早期罗马证据的一些问题，考虑了该证据的一些局限性和用途，并介绍了构成罗马早期权力和政治研究集的贡献。