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Admin moved page In what way did the Social War (91-88 BCE) change Rome and Italy? to How did the Social War (91-88 BCE) change the Roman Republic and Italy
The Romans at first were not in a position to launch a counter-attack. They bided their time and attempted to divide their former Italian allies by entering secret negotiations. Rome also managed to order back some Roman legions from abroad and also received some help from its client kingdoms. <ref> Scullard, p. 78</ref> The two Roman Consuls led to separate armies in the north and south of Italy. The consuls were not successful and they needed the support of Sulla and Marius to prevent a total Italian victory. After a series of brutal sieges and battles, the tide began to turn in favor of Rome in 89 BCE. The Roman after a siege captured the fortress of Aesernia and this cut communications between the rebels in the south and the north. Sulla and his legions were particularly successful in the south of Italy. In the north, the Consul Strabo managed to defeat a large Italian army near Asculum and Sulla inflicted a heavy defeat on the most powerful of the Italians, the Samnites. The Roman general then entered Campania and many cities surrendered to him.<ref> Plutarch. Life of Sulla. 34</ref> By 88 BC all the Italians had been defeated apart from the Samnites who held out in the mountains of central and south Italy. They only agreed to surrender after some concessions were made and indeed they were practically beyond the control of the Roman government for several years.<ref> Holland, 145</ref>
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===Roman concessions to the Allies===
[[File: 673px-Roman Legionaries-MGR Lyon-IMG 1050.jpg |thumbnail|200px|left|Roman legionaries 1st century BCE]]
The Romans were divided on the issue of how to treat the defeated Italians. They had been shocked by the scale of the revolt and only the Latins, had not risen. It was clear that the relationship between Rome and its allies had to change.<ref>Holland, p. 157</ref> The popular party (populares) wanted to compromise and offer the Italians more rights. They had always been sympathetic to the various peoples of Italy, including the Etruscans and Lucanians. The Consul who was related to the family of Caesar. The Consul’s laws offered full citizenship to all Latin and Italian communities who had not revolted. This law was widespread and it offered citizenship to entire groups and communities. The same law also provided the citizenship to all of those who had served in the Roman army with distinction. This law was historic as it basically liberalized the system for the awarding of the Roman citizenship. A later law also extended the right to the citizenship of any man in a Roman allied state.
This effectively entitled even suitably qualified former enemies of Rome to become citizens not long after they had rebelled against the Republic. This meant also that the old system of government in Italy was no longer in place. <ref>Holland, p 187</ref> Towns that had formerly had only Latin or Allied status were now suddenly Roman municipalities. There inhabitants of many Italian communities were now citizens of their own hometowns and Roman citizens. The allies of Rome had not been able to achieve independence but they had achieved much. They were no longer the dependents and subordinates of Rome they were now increasingly the equal of the Romans. <ref> Cicero. Leg. 2.5 </ref> In the decades that followed the provincial elites could participate in Roman political life and they became an increasingly powerful group, both locally and nationally in the Augustan age. By that time, it was not uncommon for members of local Italian elites to be elected to the Roman magistracies. <ref> Cicero Leg. 2.5</ref> Many historians consider that the extension of the citizenship did much to reconcile the Italians to Roman role and indeed they became stakeholders in the Roman Republic. The provincial elites, proved to be loyal to Rome for centuries to come and served the Empire, both as soldiers and administrators.
===Social and Economic impact of the wars===
[[File: 662px-Marius Chiaramonti Inv1488.jpg|thumbnail|200px|left|A bust of Marius from the 1st century AD]]
The wars devastated large areas of Italy and the loss of life was substantial. The historian Florus believed that the Social War was the worse in Italian history ‘’neither the devastation brought about by Hannibal nor by Pyrrhus was more serious’’. <ref>Florus, Epitome of the Roman Histories. 2.6</ref> During the war the small farmers suffered most and many were forced off the land. In the aftermath of the war, banditry became very common and demobilized soldiers terrorized local communities. In 78 BCE, there was a revolt among the rural poor who threatened to march on Rome. <ref>Plutarch. Life of Pompey. 24. 7</ref> The local elites often turned their villas into fortresses. At this time, many Italian farmers had to migrate to Rome and elsewhere.
