The Mediterranean and the Roman Revolution sale.^33 ThoseslaveswhoreachedItaly—as,ofcourse,largenumbersdid—did
soviathemediumoftheslavetrade;forinstance,wemeetonePubliciuson
hiswaythroughEtruriain,bringingslavesforsalefromGaultoRome.^34
Whatevertheoveralleconomiccharacteroftheslavetrade—andobviously
it involved a net import of slaves into Italy—it was certainly not a simple
oneoftheextractionofvaluebyRome.Fortheimmediateprofitsfromthe
saleofcaptivesintoslaverywerenormallymadebyRomangeneralsandsol-
dierswherevertheywereoncampaign;onlysomeofthevaluethusrealized
willhavereachedRomeorItaly.Otherprofitswillhavebeenmadebythe
middlemenwhotradedinslaves.Iftheseslaveseventuallyfoundtheirway
toItalyitwillhavebeenbypurchase,involvinganoutflowofcash.
However,evenifweseetheexistenceofpocketsofunintegrated,orun-
subjugated,peopleswithinthesupposedlyprovincialareasasanindication
ofthelimitsoftheRomanstate’srealfunctions,theirvillagesmightatany
timebecapturedandburnt,andtheirpopulationssoldintoslavery.Tore-
turntotheAlpineregiononceagain,wefindDecimusBrutus,asproconsul
of Cisalpine Gaul (northern Italy) in ..,writing casually to Cicero, ‘‘I
haveadvancedagainsttheInalpiniwithmyarmy,notsomuchseekingthe
titleofImperatoraswishingtosatisfythesoldiers....Ihavecapturedmany
fortifiedvillagesanddevastatedmany.’’^35
These small-scale internal conquests, like the major external ones of
Lucullus,Pompey,andCaesar,werethusonemeansbywhichthestate,as
embodiedinanambitiousproconsul,mightdrasticallyinterveneinalocal
societyandeconomy,witheithertemporaryorpermanenteffects.Asisobvi-
ous, the pace of these interventions accelerated enormously in the course
ofthefirstcentury..Atthebeginningofthecentury,indeed,wecould
wellfollowStrabo’sviewthatthemaineconomicandsocialeffectofRoman
predominance,atleastintheeasternMediterranean,wasnegative—namely,
theweaknessofthemajorHellenisticpowersandthefailuretoreplacethem
with anything else; piracy and the slave trade thus raged unchecked until
substantiallyendedbyPompey’smassiveoperationsin..^36 Intheearly
first century.., afterall, Rome directly ruled (i.e., raised taxes from) no
morethanItalyitself,withSicily,Sardinia,andCorsica;partofSpainand
theroutetoitthroughsouthernGaul;asmallislandofterritoryinNorth
. Josephus,AJ, , –. See H.Volkmann,Die Massenversklavungen der Einwohner
eroberter Städte in der hellenistisch-römischer Zeit(),–.
. Cicero,Quinct..
. Cicero,Fam.,(ShackletonBailey,no.).
. Strabo,,,(–).