This dissertation explores nostalgic Roman conceptions of the heroic past, as expressed in four exemplary figures: Camillus, Regulus, Scipio Africanus, and Cato the Younger. It explicates the affective component of the Roman process of identity formation--how these men speak to the emotions and spark the desire for emulation. This emotive mechanism, I argue, is important for marking what is essential to Romanness. For evidence, this dissertation will use literary and philosophical works, with histories to provide background. The period covered by these works is the middle of the first century BCE to the early fifth century CE.