Recent studies of ancient Roman masculinities have concentrated on the private aspects of the subject, particularly sexuality, and have drawn conclusions from a narrow field of reference, usually rhetorical practice. In contrast, this book examines the public and the most important aspect of Roman masculinity: Manliness as represented by the concept of "virtus". Using traditional historical, philological, and archaeological analysis, combined with socio-linguistics and gender studies, it presents a comprehensive picture of how Roman manliness developed from the middle to the late Republic period.