This ambitious study documents the underlying features which link the civilizations of the Mediterranean--Phoenician, Greek, Etruscan and Roman--and the Iron Age cultures of central Europe. Themes presented include: the spread of iron-working over most of Europe; the development and spread of a trading system throughout temperate Europe; and the rise of ever more complex societies, including states and cities, and eventually empires. Offering challenging views on population movement, diffusion, trade, social structure and spatial organization, it deals with the gradual process which culminated in the Roman Empire.