Author’s Prologue
tomychildren.WiltthoudeigntoreceivethispigwhichIofferthee
tothisend?’’
Ifyouwishtotilltheground,offerasecondsacrificeinthesame
way,withtheadditionofthewords:‘‘forthesakeofdoingthiswork.’’
Solongastheworkcontinues,theritualmustbeperformedinsome
partofthelandeveryday;andifyoumissaday,orifpublicordomestic
feastdaysintervene,anewofferingmustbemade.Theeffectofthelimitednatureoftheevidencefortherepublicanperiod,
therefore,isthat,insteadofhavingtheevidencetowriteasocialhistory,in
thelightofwhichwecouldinterpretthepoliticalnarrativeswhichwehave,
wehavetousethosenarrativesthemselves(together,inCicero’stime,with
speeches,andthenarrativescontainedwithinthem)toconstructapictureof
theconstitutionalstructureoftheres publica,ofthepoliticalrelationswhich
laybehindvotingandelections,andofthestructureofRomansocietyitself.
Catoisexceptionalinspeakingofthereligiouslifeofthecountrysideatall.
Butitistypicalthatweoweeventhistestimonytothepenofanex-consul
writingforcontemporaryupper-classlandowners.
Ifsuchlimitationsaffectourknowledgeof ‘‘Roman’’society,inornear
thecityandoutinthecountrysideandinsmalltowns,itisevenmoretrueof
the‘‘Latin’’communitiesofoldLatiumandofthecoloniae Latinae,orofthe
verydiversegroupswhocameundertheheadingofsociiorfoederati.What
wecanatleastperceivethroughournarrativesourcesisinfactsomething
veryremarkable,namelythefactthattheItalianpeninsulaintherepublican
periodwasaworldwithoutkingsorhereditaryaristocraciesorcastles.Ifwe
onlyhadtheevidence,republicanItalywouldclaimaplace,justasmuchas
classicalGreece,inthehistoryoftheself-governingcity-state.Itcouldnot,
ofcourse,beprovedthateveryItaliancommunityhadafunctioning‘‘con-
stitution’’andannualmagistrates.ButtheprogressofItalicepigraphyandthe
workofM.Cébeillac-Gervasoniandothershasallowedusatleastglimpses
of these magistrates in office over large parts of the peninsula.^42 None the
less,wearestillalongwayfrombeingableto‘‘see’’anyItaliancommunities
(Roman,Latin,orfederate)frominside,ortounderstandwhatchangesthe
extensionoftheRomancitizenshipaftertheSocialWarwillhavebrought
about.Oneoftheseismentionedearlier:theendofthemilitaryroleofLatin
andfederatecivitates,andtheenrolmentoftheiryoungmenintotheRoman
. See,e.g.,P.Poccetti,Nuovidocumentiitalici();A.Morandi,EpigrafiaItalica().
SeeM.Cébeillac-Gervasoni,ed.,Les‘‘bourgeoisies’’municipalesitaliennesauxIIeetIersièclesav.
J.-C.();Lesélitesmunicipalesdel’ItaliepéninsulairedesGracquesàNéron();Lesmagistrats
des cités italiennes de la Seconde Guerre Punique à Auguste: le Latium et la Campanie().