My dissertation uses zooarchaeological analysis (the study of animal bones from archaeological contexts) of five 8th–6th centuries BCE sites in and around Rome to investigate urbanization, power, and religion through access to meat in public and private spaces. During this period, the food system in Rome and nearby urban centers would have been completely reorganized because of urbanization. At large-scale animal sacrifices, elites would have been tasked with providing the animals, thus establishing their status and using the food distribution as a form of social control. This research investigates the nature of these sacrifices as well as how meat reached private contexts during urbanization to understand the supply of meat in public and private settings as Rome formed. The sites include the Area Sacra di Sant’Omobono, the Regia, a small excavation at the Quirinal Hill, Veii, and Gabii.