road; that is, the roads were slightly higher in the center and
sloped off to the sides, allowing rain to fl ow off. Many Roman
roads also had gutters at the side to aid in keeping the roads
relatively dry and passable. For centuries these roads enabled
people to move freely about the empire.
THE MIGRATION MOVEMENT
With each outward expansion of the Roman Republic and
the later empire, substantial numbers of Roman people, pri-
marily military troops and civil servants but also colonists
and settlers, moved into newly conquered regions. Th us, in
about 400 b.c.e. Roman colonies were established along the
Po River valley. Aft er the Romans conquered Sicily, Sardinia,
and Corsica, Roman settlers established colonies on these is-
lands. Similarly, aft er the capture of Gaul, colonies of Romans
were established throughout the region, and eventually these
colonists crossed the English Channel and settled in parts of
England. In Germania the Romans drove out the Huns, who
moved eastward and settled in the south of modern-day Rus-
sia. To the east the Romans established colonies in such re-
gions as Pannonia and Illyria (in modern-day Hungary) and
Th race (part of the defunct Greek Empire).
Additionally, considerable population movement came
about as a result of slavery. Slavery led to the movement of
populations because of the ongoing need to replenish the
supply of slaves. During this time period the average life ex-
pectancy of any person was much lower than it is in the 21st
century. A person who reached the age of 30 would have been
considered old. Archaeologists have deduced this informa-
tion by examining inscriptions on surviving tombstones.
Further, it is estimated that at birth the life expectancy of
a slave was no more than about 20 years, only a portion of
which would be spent as a slave. Th us, it is estimated that
the Romans needed about half a million new slaves each
year to maintain the slave population. While many of these
slaves were held in the outlying areas of the empire, many
were carried to Rome and surrounding areas; it has been
estimated that up to a third of the population of Rome was
enslaved.
During the period of the Roman Republic, most slaves
were prisoners of war captured during any of Rome’s military
conquests during the period. Th is source of slaves diminished
aft er the establishment of the Roman Empire, for the num-
ber of wars diminished as the empire became more stable.
Nonetheless, Roman troops took part in a number of local
wars. For example, the Romans crushed the Jewish rebellion
in Palestine in 66–70 c.e., and it is estimated that some 97,000
Jews were enslaved. A later Jewish revolt in 132–135 c.e. re-
sulted in the capture of more than 100,000 slaves. As a result
of other border skirmishes, Roman soldiers captured slaves
and either kept them for their own use or sold them to mas-
ters closer to Rome. Other sources of slaves included those
seized by kidnappers and pirates, those who became slaves
because they were in debt, and those who actually sold them-
selves into slavery in hopes of later being freed and becoming
Roman citizens. A major source of slaves was children who
were abandoned by their parents because they had too many
mouths to feed. All of these sources of slaves could have come
from anywhere in the empire.
Another source of population movement was religious
persecution, particularly in the Common Era, when Chris-
tianity began to spread. Th e religion of the Romans was
polytheistic, meaning that they believed in many gods and
goddesses. In contrast, the religion of both Jews and Chris-
tians was monotheistic, meaning that they worshipped a
single supreme being. During the early decades of the Com-
mon Era, many Jews in Rome converted to Christianity. Th eyAs Roman troops spread throughout the Mediterra-
nean region, they typically met with little resistance,
for local, disorganized tribes were no match for the
Romans’ superior numbers and organization. One
major exception was the town of Numantia in mod-
ern-day Spain. In what is called the Numantine War,
the Numantians successfully resisted the Romans for
a long period of time.
Numantia was populated by the Arevaci people,
a tribe formed by the mingling of Iberians (the na-
tives of the Iberian Peninsula, encompassing Spain
and Portugal) and Celtic migrants from the sixth cen-
tury B.C.E. In 137 B.C.E., after Rome had invaded the
Iberian Peninsula, the Numantians fought the Roman
invaders, and in fact some 20,000 Roman troops
surrendered to them, even though the Numantian
population amounted to no more than about 8,000
people.
The siege of Numantia began in 134 B.C.E. under
the leadership of Scipio Aemilianus, the local Ro-
man consul who commanded some 30,000 Roman
troops. The Roman army built fortifi cations around
the city, cut off its connections with other towns, and
settled in for a long siege. In time the Numantians,
who refused to surrender, were starving, and many
historians believe that, in desperation, they practiced
cannibalism. They attempted to lure Scipio into open
battle, but Scipio refused to take the bait. At one
point Scipio caught wind of an effort by a party of
Numantians to escape to the nearby town of Lutia to
seek help. Scipio responded by occupying Lutia and
cutting off the hands of all men of fi ghting age. After
eight months nearly all of the residents of the town,
rather than surrendering to the Romans and becom-
ing slaves, committed suicide. Only a small handful of
the town’s citizens survived. With the fall of Numan-
tia, the conquest of Iberia was complete.THE TOWN OF NUMANTIA
migration and population movements: Rome 717