Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 1 - The Roman Republic and the Augustan Revolution

 The Roman Republic

text,givesonlyafewpages(–)to‘‘L’Italiadopolaguerrasociale,’’with
a few more pages later (–) on ‘‘Sistemazioni urbane in Italia tra II e I
secolo.’’

ProvincialAlliesandRomanMilitaryPower

Theregularcalling-upofcontingentsofItalianallies,onthebasisofthefor-
mula togatorum(thelistofmalesofmilitaryage),hadbeenoneofthebasesof
RomanmilitarypowerbeforetheSocialWar,justasdirectrecruitmentof
Italiansintothelegionswasafterit.ButwasthebasisofRome’soverseasem-
pirefundamentallydifferent,structuredinsteadondirectandindirecttaxa-
tionincashorkind?Clearlytheimpositionoftaxation,andtheconsequent
inflowofrevenuestoRome(butnottothealliedcommunitiesofItaly)was
crucial.ButwhatCicerowritesintheVerrinesaboutoneofthemanyareasof
Verres’malpracticesuggestsexplicitlythatweshouldnotmaketooradical
adistinctionbetweenItalyandprovinces(Verr. II,):

Eachcivitas[inSicily]hadalwaysbeenaccustomedtoentrusttoanaval

commanderofitsownallthefundsforitsfleet,forsupplies,pay,and

everythingelse....Thatwas,asIsay,alwaystheestablishedpractice,

notonlyinSicilybutinallprovinces,alsoasregardsthepayandex-

penditureofthe[Italian]alliesandtheLatins,intheperiodwhenwe

usedtomakeuseoftheirforces.

Verres, however, had demanded that all these sums should first be handed
overtohimself,andthendispensedbyhimtowhomsoeverhechose.What
isimportantforusis,firstly,theclosecomparisonmadebetweenpre–Social
WarItalyandtheprovincesand,secondly,thegeneralnatureofCicero’sac-
count,whichexplicitlyrelatestoallprovinces,anddoesnotseemtotakeinto
accountdifferencesofstatusbetweencommunitieswhichwerefreeorhad
atreaty,orweremerelytribute-paying.InCAH^2 IXRome’slaterepubli-
canEmpireisingeneralverywelltreated,firstinAndrewLintott’sexcellent
overview in chapter , ‘‘The Roman Empire and Its Problems in the Late
SecondCentury’’;forafurthertreatmentwecanturnnowtohisImperium
Romanum:PoliticsandAdministration().Then,inthesecond,thematic,half
ofthevolume,thereischapterbyJ.S.Richardson,‘‘TheAdministration
oftheEmpire.’’Butingeneral,giventhatwearetalkingofamajorperiodof
conflictandconquest,nottospeakofgreatcivilwarsinthesands,even
thestrictly‘‘Roman’’armyplaysarelativelysmallpart—nosystematicpart
atallindeed,afterfourpages(–)devotedto‘‘MilitaryStrengthandthe
Empire’’inthelatersecondcentury.Equally,thequestionofthelargepro-