The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History - Karatunov.net

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The Roman A rmy
tempts to free themselves from Rome, at the beginning of the fifth century and
in the later fourth century bc. Each war ended in Roman victory, and the Latin
states were henceforth allied to Rome but forbidden to make alliances with each
o t h er. This was an early example of the Roman policy of d ivi de and ru l e . It
worked to Rom e’s adva n t a ge , and du ring the gre a test stresses of the war wi t h
Hannibal none of the Latin allies deserted Rome.
L a tins and Romans were gra n ted the ri ght to interm a rry (co nu bi u m)and
were all owed mutual trading and business ri ghts (co m m erci u m) . A child of a
Roman father and a Latin mother was counted a citizen of Rome, and the boys
were eligible to serve in the Roman citizen legions. Citizenship was interchangeable.
A Roman became a Latin citizen if he resided in a Latin colony, but if he
moved back to Rome he resumed his Roman citizenship. A Latin colonist who
left a son in his hometown, so that recruitment was not jeopardized, could take
up Roman citizenship. The attractions of Rome eventually proved too tempti
n g, c re a ting a short a ge of L a tin rec ru i t s . Accord i n gly, in 187 and 173 bc , t h e
Romans agreed with the Latin communities to repatriate all those Latins who
had migrated to Rome, which implies that proper records had been kept, with
full names and dates of entry to the city. The repatriation of the Latins indicates
that the all i ed troops were of great import a n ce to the Rep u blican Roman authorities
when drawing up their armies.
Treaties of alliance with the Italian allies (socii Italici) usually took into account
the various customs of each separate allied city, and there was little or no
Roman interference in local government. Local languages, laws, religious practices,
and festivals continued as before. No taxes were levied. There was usually a
mutual obligation to refrain from giving aid to the enemy. In other words, the
allies could not exercise their own foreign policy, but they could appeal for help
if they were attacked. The treaties usually stipulated that troops must be levied
for Rom e . Th ere was a list of a ll i e s , the fo rmu l a to ga to ru m , that det a i l ed how
many men the individual allied cities and tribes could be called upon to raise,
and the rec ruits were said to be furn i s h ed ex fo rmu l a . The all i ed troops were
collectively labeled Alae Sociorum, literally “the wings of the allies” because their
fighting position was on the wings of the main army of the legions. During the
Empire, the name ala referred exclusively to auxiliary cavalry units, but in the
early Republic the Alae Sociorum comprised both infantry and cavalry. Where
the allies had special talents or resources, Rome utilized them for her military
needs; for instance, the coastal cities of southern Italy, called socii navales, provided
ships and crews.
An o t h er means of providing pro tecti on for Roman terri tory, and men for
the army, was the establishment of colonies, which served a dual purpose as a
tried and trusted method of siphoning off surplus population and of guarding
strategic points and protecting routes. Livy called the early colonies both barriers
and ga tew ays . Th ey were ra rely com p l etely new fo u n d a ti on s , being estab-