The Roman Republic
Conclusions
CAH^2 IX,forallitsveryhighintellectuallevel,andthecoherenceandsense
ofpurposewithwhichithadbeendesignedandedited,stillmakesasome-
whatold-fashionedimpression.Forthat,thereseemtometobethreerea-
sons. One is that the last fewdecades have perhaps not been as creative in
thehistoryofthisperiodastheyhaveforotherperiodsandareasofthean-
cientworld.Anotheristhat,asindicatedalready,toolargeaproportionof
the volume has been devoted to year-by-year political-military narrative.
‘‘Events,’’ofcourse,cannotbeavoided,andthenotionthatthereeverwas
a(moreorless)timelessworldofpeasantstowhichpoliticsandwarswere
irrelevant,mighthaveseemedextremelyoddtothehundredsofthousands
ofpeasantswhofoundthemselves,inthelaterRepublic,withtheirvillages
assaultedbyRomanorotherarmies,subjectedtonewgovernmentalsystems,
recruitedintoarmies,takenawaybypirates,orsoldintoslavery.Buttosay
thatrapidchangeisfundamentaltotheperioddoesnotreallymeanthateven
themostsubtleandperceptiveofnarrativesreallyhastotakeupsomuchof
thevolume.
Secondly, it surely would be possible now to broaden the basis of what
we take to be the subject: to the social and spatial context of the ‘‘aristo-
cratic’’familiaanditsdomus(andthis,surely,wouldhavebeentheplacefor
considerationsofmarriageandproperty,slaveryandmanumission);tothe
votersmeetingintheForumortheCampusMartius;totheurbanplebsof
themetropolis(abroadeningwhichisachievedhere);totheRoman,Latin,
andalliedcommunitiesofpre–SocialWarItaly,andtothenow(inprinciple)
Roman-citizencommunitiesofpost–SocialWarItaly;totheRomanarmies;
totheprovincialpopulations;andtoallthosegroups,notyetruledbyRome,
on whom Roman power, sometimes divided against itself, made so great
animpact.Wedoafterallhavemanydifferentview-pointsonthisrapidly
changingworld.NotleastoftheseisDiodorus,whonotonlygivesthefull-
est,almostcontemporary,accountoftheslavewarsandtheSocialWar,but
happenedtobeinEgyptin–..whenPtolemyAuleteswasseeking
recognition from Rome, and everyeffort was being made to seek Roman
favour.ButavisitingRomanaccidentallykilledacat,andnothingthatroyal
agentscoulddocouldpreventhisbeinglynchedbythemob(Diodorus,,
–).Thisminorincidentmightservetosymbolizetheinstabilityofsocial
andpoliticalrelationsintheMediterraneanareaunderthegrowingpressure
of Roman power, and the complexityof the history which we might one
daybeinapositiontowrite.