280-268 B.C. Rome was defined by separate treaties, and therefore varied in accordance with the terms imposed by such agreements. No doubt all national leagues, such as the Samnite and Lucanian, shared the fate which had earlier befallen the Latin and Hernican confederations; and any movements which might tend to bind one community with another, whether by rights of intermarriage or of acquisition of property or by common council-chambers, were doubtless suppressed by the vigilance of Rome. Further, all the Italian communities were obliged to equip and furnish at their own expense contingents in time of war. Those Latin towns classified above in the first division furnished a definitely fixed number of infantry and cavalry which acted on the wings of the Roman legion and were therefore named "wings" and "winged cohorts." The same duty was imposed on most of the allied communities classified in the third division, such as Apulians, Sabellians, and Etruscans. Further, the passive citizens defined in the second division were, as above stated, bound to serve in the ranks of the Roman legions, while the duty of supplying ships of war fell almost entirely on the Greek cities. Such were the leading features of the Roman government of Italy, the details of which can no longer be ascertained. In addition to breaking up all existing confederacies, and thus splitting up the subject states into a number of smaller communities, Rome fostered schisms and factions among them. In pursuance of the same object the government of all dependent communities was now placed in the hands of the wealthy and leading families, whose interests were naturally opposed to those of the multitude, and who were inclined to favor Roman views. Capua, whose nobles had sided with Rome throughout the war against the revolted Latins and Campanians, furnished a notorious instance of this policy. Special privileges and pensions were granted by Rome to the Campanian aristocracy. But the great wisdom and moderation of Rome is shown by the fact that she either extended to these dependent states the Roman franchise, or allowed them to retain a certain amount of self-government, and gave them a share in the successes of Rome. Thus in Italy, at least, no community of Helots existed, nor, which was equally important, was there any tributary state; for Rome with a wise magnanimity never assumed that most dangerous of rights, the right of taxing any of her Italian subjects. Rome exercised control and supervision over the 280-268 B.C. various Italian communities by means of the four quaestors of the fleet, who had a district and residence outside Rome assigned them by law. In addition, the chief magistrate of every community had to take a census of his state every fourth or fifth year; by this means the Roman senate was kept informed of the resources in men and money of the whole of Italy. Politically united under the leadership of Rome, the various tribes inhabiting Italy now began to realize more completely and feel more intensely their unity as a nation. This feeling must have first sprung into existence from the contrast presented by the Greeks, and must have been heightened by the danger with which the Celts threatened all Italians equally. It found expression in two names, which now began to be applied to all the peoples inhabiting Italy. The name of Italians, which was originally a Greek term, became current everywhere, and Italia, originally limited to the modern Calabria, was now used of the whole land. The name of Togati, or "men of the toga," was now for the first time used to designate all the Italians, and thus sharply contrasted them with the Celtic "men of the hose" (Braccati). This common use by all of the Latin toga-the right to wear which was an exclusive privilege of the Roman citizen-seemed to point to the day when the Latin language would be regarded as the mother-tongue of every Italian: the germs of the Latinization of the whole peninsula were already planted; time alone was needed for their development. It had taken Rome 120 years to complete the union of the Italian peninsula, broken up as it was by mountain ranges and naturally favoring the formation and preservation of various isolated states. But a union it was, rather than a subjugation, and each nation was left to the practical management of its own affairs. Content with self-government, the various communities, for the most part, easily bore the yoke of Roman supremacy. Eventually all the municipal towns received the full Roman franchise (90) B.C.), and thus established the municipal principle of government which endures to the present day. The recognition of Rome's new position as one of the great powers in the political world was first marked by an embassy sent from Alexandria to Rome in 273 B.C., primarily with a view to settling commercial relations. Egypt was at that time at variance with Carthage touching Cyrene, and with Macedonia touching her predominating influence in Greece; the complications that were Hist. Nat. III 7 280-268 B.C. eventually to arise between Rome and Carthage for the possession of Sicily, and between Rome and Macedonia for the sovereignty of the Adriatic coasts, were doubtless foreshadowed even then, and may well have suggested an alliance with Egypt. The new struggles which were preparing on all sides could not but influence each other; and Rome, as mistress of Italy, could not fail to be drawn into the wide arena, which the victories and projects of Alexander the Great had marked out as the field of conflict to his successors. |
