Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The influence of the Greek historians upon the Roman writers. Nature of the material accessible to the Roman histo rians: the annals; family records; state documents. Distinction between the authenticity of material for the earlier and the later history of Rome: the legendary mate rial; modern efforts to appreciate this material; the views of Niebuhr; importance of this discussion in estimating the value of tradition in constructing the history of early periods; attempt to reconstruct early tribal songs; Macau lay's introduction to his Lays of Ancient 'rome; Sir G. C. Lewis On the Credibility of Early Roman History.