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

 The Roman Republic

tainedno‘‘Roman’’fleetofitsown;oneremarkofCicero’sseemstoimply
thatthecostmightbetakenoutofthecashrevenuesduetoRome.^71
The civil wars thus involved the calling out of local forces, often it is
truenotverylarge,andtheirdespatchallovertheMediterranean;weseea
nicereflectionofthisintheinscriptionfromCyzicus(north-westTurkey)
inwhichsomeonerecordshisdreamaboutthecaptureandenslavementof
afriendofhiswhohadsailedoffinacitytriremetofightalongsideCaesar
inNorthAfricain..^72 It is not difficult to envisage the local, short-
termeffectsoftherequisitioningofforces,menandsupplies.Wecannote
the,GalatiansrequisitionedtocarrycornforLucullus’campaignsin
AsiaMinorin..,^73 orreadPlutarch’svividdescriptionoftherequisi-
tionsinGreecebeforethebattleofActiumin..:Antonius’trierarchs
pressedintoservicepassingtravellers,muledrivers,peopleworkingonthe
harvest, and young men of military age; the cities were stripped of their
money,slaves,andbeastsfortransport,andPlutarch’sgreat-grandfatherused
torecallhowthewholepopulationatAnticyrawasimpressedtocarrysacks
ofcorndowntothesea.ButwhennewscameofAntonius’defeat,hisoffi-
cialsandsoldiersimmediatelyfledandthepeoplesharedoutthegrain.^74 Thus
the short-term local effects of Roman exactions could be felt both inside
andoutsidetheprovincialarea,andmayoftenhavebeenovercomewithout
greatdifficulty.Whetherthescaleoftherequisitioningoftroopsandfleets
and their movement around the Mediterranean was sufficient to have any
profoundlong-termeffectsisnotclear.Asalways,wearehopelesslyhandi-
cappedbynotknowinghowtoconceiveoftheeconomyasawhole,orabout
thescaleofthenormalmovementofmen,goods,andmoneywithinit.
Thementionofmoneyleadstothethirdgeneralpoint.Sofarthetheme
ofRomantaxation,extortion,andextraexactionsinmoneyhasdeliberately
beenleftaside.Ifwenowturntothis,thereareanumberofconsiderations
whichindicatethattheireffectsonthetotaleconomyoftheregionmayhave
beenmorevariableandmoreambivalentthanisoftenpresumed.Firstly,as
was emphasised earlier, the mere fact that local communities paid taxes in
cashorkindrepresentsnothingnewanddistinctiveinitself,exceptinGaul.
Secondly,manyofthemostextremeandnotoriousinstancesarethemselves
reflectionsoftheparticularcivilwarsituation—thatis,themaximizingof
therapidextractionofvaluebyonearmoftheRomanstateinordertogain

. Cicero,Verr. II,.

.Syll.^3 .

. Plutarch,Luc..

. Plutarch,Ant.,and.