The Roman Army, 31 BC–AD 337: A Sourcebook

Veterans 211
communities. After Philippi in 41, a large amount of land from eighteen
cities in Italy was expropriated by Octavian to satisfy about 46,000
veterans, and further settlements in Italy and Gaul for about 20,000
men were made after the defeat of Sextus Pompey at Naulochus in 36.
After his victory at Actium in 31, Augustus, who stood as the bringer
of peace and order, could not repeat the upheavals of these years which
had caused much bad feeling. He boasted in the Res Gestae that he
had paid for all the land given to his soldiers. It is likely that many
veterans at this time preferred to receive land rather than monetary
praemia, and this suited Augustus because there was much land available
by conquest outside Italy, and because compensation for land which
had to be bought in Italy was cheaper than cash payments.
Augustus paid great attention to the details of the foundation of his
colonies, as we know from the works of the Roman land surveyors
(Agrimensores). He formulated the basic law of land division—‘as far
as the scythe and plough shall go’ and laid down what sort of land and
pasture each settler should get. He also defined those destined for
specially favoured treatment, and insisted on careful demarcation of
each land division scheme, specifying the erection of wooden posts to
designate individual allocations; in addition, he was responsible for
the meticulous compilation and lodging of records of the settlement
details, and the establishment of a legal framework controlling each
settlement’s relationship with neighbouring communities. Most veteran
colonies survived into the late empire although there is no way of testing
in detail Augustus’ boast (text no. 344) about the twenty-eight colonies
he founded in Italy. But his concern for their prosperity can be seen in
his financial benefactions, in his personal assocation with his veterans,
and in his title, known from three colonies, ‘Parent’ or ‘Parent of the
Colony’.
The foundation of colonies consisting mainly or exclusively of
soldiers continued up to the time of Hadrian, though the settlement of
legionary veterans in Italy was largely discontinued after the Flavian
era. Military colonies in the provinces were founded in more remote
areas on the periphery of Roman territory, sometimes on the site of a
disused legionary base or on recently conquered land. But at any one
time probably more soldiers received monetary praemia. In total less
than fifty colonies are known for the period AD 14–117, yet it has
been calculated that about three hundred would have been required to
cope with the likely number of discharged veterans in this period (see
text no. 360). The practice of veteran settlement was neither systematic
nor coherent and there is certainly no sign of an attempt to disseminate
the principles of Roman civilization and government by means of such