Marjorie Yates

The story takes place in Rome shortly after the expulsion of the Tarquin kings. Ordinary citizens are rioting after stores of grain were withheld. The rioters are particularly angry at Gaius Martius, a brilliant Roman general whom they blame. War breaks out with a neighboring Italian tribe, the Volscians, who are led by Martius' great rival, Tullus Aufidius.