nature, for instance at Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber or at Minturnae at the mouth of the Liris. But those possessed of Roman or
Latin citizenship were eligible to take part in the settlements and Roman coloniae provided an avenue, even if not a very important
one, whereby men whose families were of Italian origin could achieve Roman citizenship without moving to Rome.
Far more important as a means of creating new Roman citizens was the incorporation of entire Italian communities as citizens
without the vote. Such communities possessed all the other rights of Roman citizens, primarily legal and social, and were also
bound to perform all the duties of citizens, to pay taxes, and to fight. We do not know whether the act of conferring citizenship
without the vote (perhaps sometimes withheld for reasons of distance or linguistic incompatibility) was intended as a reward or as a
means of subjection, and perhaps it does not much matter. Large parts of Italy became Roman in this way, however, conspicuously
the great Graeco-Etruscan-Samnite city of Capua, and also Arpinum, later the birthplace of C. Marius and of Cicero. The details of
the process whereby Capua and indeed much of Campania were in the middle of the fourth century incorporated in the Roman state
are obscure and controversial. What matters is that what was by then the richest and most developed area of Italy entered the
Roman sphere (below, pp. 402 f.).
The Unification of Italy
We have seen that there were a number of ways in which men belonging to different Italian communities, whether conquered or
not, might come to acquire Roman citizenship or Latin status. But there are other aspects of the process whereby Rome succeeded
not simply in conquering Italy, but also in moulding it into a single -world. In the foundation of Latin coloniae Rome exported her
own hierarchical pattern for the organization of society. The same general approach was extended to her dealings with the Italian
allies. Systematically Rome sought out and privileged their upper classes; she supported them in a crisis, if they "were faced with
catastrophe from without or revolution from within; in normal times relations between Rome and any Italian community were
conducted by means of the personal links between the upper orders of the two cities, based on a close community of interest and
involving frequent contact, including intermarriage.
Given this network of personal relationships, it is not surprising that Rome found little difficulty in seeing that the principal demand
she made on the communities of Italy was fulfilled. The demand was for troops, a fact which sets Rome apart from most other
ancient empires and helps to explain the nature of Roman imperialism.
Most ancient empires demanded tribute from their subjects; superiority was symbolized by the demand, and its fulfilment provided
tangible material rewards for having achieved rule over others. Rome, clearly at a very early stage, simply extended to other Italian
peoples the demand for manpower which she made on her own citizen body. The result was that the only way in which she could
symbolize the power she had over the Volscians or the Etruscans was by demanding troops and the only way in which she could
derive any benefit was by using the troops to acquire booty, land, and yet more power. It should not be supposed, however, that the
demand for troops necessarily fell on unwilling ears. For although Rome was less generous in distributing booty or land to her allies
than she was to her own citizens, she did share some of the ever increasing rewards of victory with them.