The Roman Republic
worldofthelandowningclassesoftheGreekcities.Themanwhopaidtheir
wagescouldbeafriendofPoseidonius,thegreatphilosopherfromApamea
inSyria,whotaughtinRhodesandvisitedRome.Inthattheywereunlike
thepeoplesinnorth-westSpainwhomStrabodescribes,livingongoatmeat,
acorns,andbuttermadeoutofoliveoil;Strabo,speakingofthesepeoples,
alsogivesusoneoftheearliestdescriptionsofcouvade,notingthatinthis
region,whenachildwasborn,thefatherretiredtobedandwaslookedafter
bythewife.^29 Buttocomebacktothemainpoint,thesecondthingwehave
to remember is that it was not only these mountain peoples in the distant
interior of Spain who remained unsubjugated until Augustus’ reign. Our
convenientmapsoftheRomanprovincesinthisperiodareapolitefiction,
forinhillyareasmuchclosertothecoastoftheMediterraneanitselfthere
remained free peoples. Even if we ignore those areas like Illyricum where
therewasanunconqueredhinterland,^30 therewasstillbrigandageinCorsica
andSicilyinStrabo’stime,whileDiodorustwiceassertsthatthepeoplesof
central Sardinia had never been conquered byeither Carthage or Rome.^31
ThatrecallsCicero’sfamouscampaignof..,astheRomangovernorof
Cilicia(southernTurkey),firstagainstthefortifiedvillagesoftheAmanus,
whichwerecapturedandburnt,andthenagainstthe‘‘freeCilicians’’(Eleu-
therocilices)ofPindenissum‘‘whohadneveryieldedobedienceeventothe
kings’’—theSeleucidkings,thatis.ThosecapturedatPindenissumwereput
onsale,andCiceroreportedtoAtticusthat,sesterceshadbeenreal-
izedfromthesalesofar.^32
Muchmoderndiscussionofthesupposedsocialandeconomiceffectsof
Roman conquest is dominated by the presupposition of the mass transfer
of slaves to Italy. But populations captured in war were sold on the spot,
oratleastinthesameregion(liketheSalassi,mentionedearlier,whowere
soldatEporediainnorthernItaly).Somewillsimplyhavebeenransomed,
otherssoldlocally,liketheJewswhohadbeencapturedbyCassiusandwere
currentlyinslaveryinTyre,Sidon,Antioch,andAradus,andwhoserelease
Antonius ordered in ..Whatever major social effects thewars of this
period had, it was not by the direct transfer of whole populations before
. Strabo,,,();,().
. ForIllyricum,seeAppian,Ill.;andnote[Caesar],B.Alex.,–(Gabiniusat-
tackingcastella,anddrivenbacktoSalona):Cicero,Fam.,a–b(ShackletonBailey,nos.
,)(VatiniustryingtogainatriumphagainsttheDalmatians).
. SeeStrabo,Geography,,()(Corsica);,,()(Sicily);Diodorus,,,
–,and,,–(Sardinia).
. Cicero,Fam.,,(ShackletonBailey,no.),and,,–(no.);Cicero,
Att.,,,–(no.).